Myanmar workers are preparing to protest over alleged discrimination by Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Company, according to the Zawtika Offshore Myanmar Organization or ZOMO on February 20.
Myanmar workers in the Zawtika offshore project have alleged that PTTEP has discriminated unfairly against them by denying their rights including failure to provide wages on a par with Thai workers, and efforts to negotiate have resulted in little progress.
An official at the ZOMO said: “We will stage the protest at our offshore work site. We will wear our uniform and armband that has the Myanmar flag and Thai flag and a symbol of equation between the two flags. It means that equal rights should be given to Thai workers and Myanmar workers. We will stage the protest until our demands are met.”
On February 20, ZOMO issued a statement saying PTTEP only fulfilled one out of seven demands made by the Myanmar workers and it did not do enough to solve the issue.
The statement says the company failed to obey the rules related to environmental conservation, and violated the workers’ rights including the rights related to wages. Therefore, the workers are calling on the company to hold a face-to-face meeting involving the PTTEP, the Energy Ministry and ZOMO representatives, according to the statement.
Earlier, on February 5, the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise acted as mediator in talks between the workers and PTTEP.