Photo essay: Yangon’s port workers struggle to make ends meet amid soaring prices

Many people in Myanmar have taken up manual jobs to support their families amid rising living costs and soaring prices for essential goods, including those who earn just 230 kyat (US $0.06) for each bag of rice they unload from ships in Yangon’s port. While most of the port workers are young to middle-aged, there are older men among them for whom retirement is not an option. “I’ve been carrying loads since I was 17. My back and shoulders have gone completely numb… I wouldn’t even need anaesthesia,” a 55-year-old dockworker said. “I can’t afford to rest. If I take even one day off, my family will have nothing to eat tomorrow. My wife is over 50 now, and even though all of us are working, including my children, we still can’t break free from debt.” “I fear nothing except becoming disabled and losing the ability to provide for my family, or leaving them burdened with debt,” 52-year-old dockworker Saw Maung said. The port workers earn 230 kyat (6 cents) for each rice bag they load onto or unload from the ships. To limit hazards, each worker is only allowed to carry up to two bags at a time. They use tally sticks to keep track of the number of bags each labourer has moved. Some of the labourers carrying goods at the ports are educated young people who have passed their matriculation exams. However, they have taken manual jobs at the docks because other work opportunities are scarce. “You don’t have to carry any loads if you don’t want to. No one will mind. But if you do, you’ll earn your pay. Everyone here is working for their family,” a worker said. “When I feel sick, I just carry more loads. It helps me sweat it out, earns me extra money, and defrays my medical costs. A visit to the clinic costs 10,000 to 15,000 kyat (US $2.50 to $3.70), almost as much as I make in a day,” a port worker said. “I used to carry rice bags, but now it’s too much for me because of my age and heart problems. The foreman gives me lighter work like sorting the rice bags and handing out tally sticks, and pays me a small allowance for it,” said Hpone Myint, 69. “I have a slow heart rate, but if I stay home, my family will have no money. My granddaughter is still young so I must provide for her as well. Even with three of us working, it’s not enough to cover my wife’s and my medical bills, household expenses, and electricity.”

Photo essay: Yangon’s port workers struggle to make ends meet amid soaring prices

The dock workers in Yangon’s ports often have few options for supporting their families as the cost of living rises besides low-paid, manual labour

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