Tens of thousands of workers went back to their jobs in Rangoon on Monday, ending six weeks of anti-government strikes after the army threatened dismissal and imprisonment.
"I would say 90 percent are going back to offices and factories," an opposition source in the Burmese capital told Reuters in a telephone interview.Many buses were plying the city's streets, especially in factory areas, he said.
Buses have been a rare sight in the capital for over a month as strikes at oil refineries made gasoline scarce.
"The people have gone back to work, but I do not think that they will make effective work," the opposition source said.
Students have been plastering the city with posters urging workers forced to return by threats or lack of money to strike again after getting paid, or to stay at their jobs but do no work.
The army set an Oct. 3 deadline for a return to work shortly after it seized power on Sept. 18 in what Western diplomats in Rangoon called a false coup designed to keep old guard militaristic socialist rulers in power.