Hundreds of staff at Tatmadaw-owned factories making parts for military vehicles joined the movement against the regime and went on strike earlier this month, prompting a top general to step in to pressure them to return to work.
The strikes started on March 7 at five factories across the country, but they were partially broken after visits by Major General Ko Ko Lwin, Vice Chief of Defence Industries, which makes arms and other equipment for the Tatmadaw.
Workers at factories in Yangon, Magway, Myaing, Myingyan in Mandalay region and Htone Bo in Bago region have announced they are joining strikes.
At Htone Bo, which employs around 600 people, at least 193 workers said they were striking, according to figures compiled from social media by Myanmar Now. Another 65 in Magway and 34 in Myaing said they were joining strikes.
It is unclear how many have joined strikes at the other factories.
Many of those at the Htone Bo plant have now returned to work, but others have resigned and others still have been arrested, workers told Myanmar Now, though they were unable to give detailed figures.
One worker at the Htone Bo plant said even though he had been pressured into returning to work, he still wasn’t doing anything at the factory.
“We are not working. I am at home,” he said. “I go to the factory only on the days I want to go. Even on the days I’m at the factory, I do not work.”
All five of the plants are categorised as “No. 3 sub-factories” and operated by the military-controlled Ministry of Defence. The factories were owned by the Ministry of Industry until 2006, when they were taken over by the military.
The industrial action at the plants is likely to have rattled the regime; not only is it symbolically powerful but sustained work stoppages could disrupt military strategic planning in the longer term.
The Htone Bo factory has continued to pay its workers, the employee there said, adding that 15 workers have fled from staff housing to avoid being forced back to work.
The chief of the factory held negotiations with striking staff, a source told Myanmar Now, after which some returned to work.
Others were fired after refusing to end the strike and some resigned, the source added, but did not know the exact numbers.
At the Magway factory, the deputy chief there was arrested for organizing strikes, a factory worker said, adding that he had heard reports that some people at the Yangon plant had also been arrested for striking.
Photos posted on social media from Myaing in Magway region showed workers from a military factory joining an anti-coup rally.
