Irrawaddy-Nov 12
The junta has advertised around 4,000 job openings for its departments in less than six weeks since the beginning of October—a sign that the mass strike by civil servants is still exerting a huge impact, and that the regime is still struggling to run its administrative mechanism including education and healthcare services. More than 3,000 job vacancies were advertised in junta-controlled newspapers in October, and 900 more were listed into the second week of November. According to the job advertisements, ministries that were recruiting included Science and Technology; Labor; Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation; Home Affairs; and Planning and Finance. Others included the Health, Education, and Rail Transport ministries, whose employees came out on strike in the aftermath of the coup and joined en masse the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). More than 500 vacancies were advertised for the Health Ministry alone. The regime is also reportedly planning to recruit hundreds more for other departments. The mass strike of civil servants played an important part in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution against the military junta in the wake of the coup. More than 200,000 employees from various government departments joined the CDM. It was a slap in the face for the Myanmar military regime, which has tried various means to force strikers back to work. Its tactics have included threatening with dismissal, issuing arrest warrants, blacklisting strikers for overseas travel, sealing off their houses, detention and prosecution, revoking their citizenship, and taking their relatives hostage. On Oct. 29, the regime arrested five striking health workers in Mandalay. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/junta-watch/junta-watch-regime-puts-out-help-wanted-sign-coup-leader-seeks-divine-blessing-and-more.html
