The Luther World Federation (LWF) in Sittwe, the capital city of Rakhine State, has fired 80 Myanmar employees, who demanded full salaries in Euros.
The employees were not happy as their salaries were paid in Burmese currency notes instead of Euros, which
was agreed in the contract.
They were fired on 4 September by sending personal emails, a person in charge of the LWF protection project
informed Narinjara News.
The group signed an agreement to pay over 90 employees in Euros,
but the Myanmar employees were
paid in Kyats (at the rate of Kyats 2,200
per Euro).
"When we are being paid at the rate of Kyats 2,200 by the central bank, we are deprived of extra money.
It is now difficult for us to live
with the salaries,” he added.
However, the LWF authority denied any change. The concerned person argued that the employees were
discussing over the issue for more than two
years.
“But they do not listen to the employees. So altogether 92
employees participated in a silent
protest. The management clarified that Burmese
employees will be paid in Kyats only,” he added.
Among those fired employees, there are 37 women including four pregnant ladies and four nursing
mothers.
Another female staff member stated that the authority didn't pay the salaries for August as they joined in
the protest program.
“This is a clear violation of workers' fundamental rights.
The officials are earning extra
money due to the tempered exchange rates,”
she added.
The value of Kyats is going down every day. The Myanmar employees are demanding their salaries
according to the exchange rate of private
banks.
A male employee revealed that the workers do their duties sincerely. Even during the outbreak of Covid-19,
they worked to fulfil the company's
target.
“During the Mocha storm, we had to stay in the
monasteries because the houses
were fully destroyed. Even after a lot of troubles, we completed our works within the specified time,” he added.
Now many employees are suffering from depression and other psychological damages, even though they
work for an international organisation
dedicating on humanitarian and development activities.
The LWF group is based in Geneva and it has operations in four Rakhine townships namely Mrauk
U, Pauk Taw, Ponna Kyunt and Ann.
The LWF officials based at Thisar road of north Sanpya ward in Sittwe were not available for any detail. The
social media account of LWF states
that it works with the donations from 16 international organizations like EU, UNHCR, UNICEF, Norwegian Refugee
Council, etc.