By Min Ni Kyaw - May 19, 2025
Workers at Alland Fashion Ltd garment factory report that the factory employs young workers but fails to issue them EC (Employment Contract) documents. They said about 60 daily wage workers, including those under 18, are not given permanent contracts, resulting in the loss of legal entitlements.
“A few workers are temporarily given EC contracts only when brand representatives come to inspect the factory. The rest are not. Daily wage workers include minors under 18 and around 60 adults. Altogether, there are about 200 daily wage workers. These workers don’t receive wages for Sunday holidays. Some have been working for 6 months or even a year. They are still not made permanent even after passing the probation period. They work the same hours and tasks as others,” a worker said.
Workers said they work 10 hours a day and receive around 10,000 kyats as daily wages. Those who fail to meet production targets are made to work overtime late into the night without receiving overtime pay although the factory runs until 7:30 p.m. daily.
“We work until 6:30 p.m. currently. But we don’t get any break from lunchtime until overtime ends. We only get two Sunday days off per month,” a worker said.
Workers also complained that supervisors and superiors verbally abuse and shout at them if production targets are not met. They added that although they are not granted any form of leave, monthly deductions are still made for social security contributions.
“There’s no paid leave at all—not even for medical reasons. We’re not entitled to social security benefits either. They also don’t give us service-based leave. The manager denies the social security leave when we ask for it, saying it’s not allowed and we can complaint anywhere. Worker who misses a day within the year, won’t receive service-based leave. Year-end bonuses are also not given. Only those with perfect attendance get them. It’s like our legal entitlements are treated as optional. If someone is absent during the week, they won’t get paid for Sunday either,” one worker said.
One worker said they lost nearly 200,000 kyats because even though they had perfect attendance throughout the month, they were not given the sewing incentive pay when they resigned —only the daily wage.
Workers said the WCC (Workplace Coordination Committee) members are supervisors, not elected by the factory workers, which creates difficulties in resolving grievances and conducting negotiations.
Workers said toilets and drinking water areas are placed together, and the unsanitary state of the toilets causes foul odors and makes drinking water unhygienic. The toilet water is available only from 9 a.m. to the end of the workday, and is turned off 30 minutes before the end of work shift, causing further sanitation issues. They also reported extreme heat due to broken fans and cooling systems, and said emergency exits are blocked.
Alland Fashion factory is located on Myataung Min Gyi U Hmo Road, Industrial Zone 2, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. It is a Chinese national-owned factory, employing around 800 workers, manufacturing European brands such as HOHENHORN and COLLIOPE.
