Are they trying to abolish the trade unions by closing the factories?
And September’s violations
In Myanmar Labour News, a total of 39 articles were presented in September, including 19 news articles from 18 factories which labours complained. (Figure-1)
Among the mentioned factory news, there were two factories that reported that they would close. Those factories are is Wellgreen outdoor (Myanmar) which locates in Mya Seing Yaung Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar and HONG MIAO Garment Co.Ltd which locates in Thadhukan Industrial Zone, Shwe Pyi Thar. These two factories are garment factories, so both factories employ more than 500 workers. (Figure-2)
The Wellgreen outdoor (Myanmar) factory closed from September 1st to September 5th, and moved the materials from the factory without informing the labours. There is no labor union in this factory, and as well as the WCC. The factory has only been open for about 5 months and the labours said that they had to work all night and all light overtimes. Others also said that The Wellgreen outdoor (Myanmar) factory had been closed and reopened 3 times.
Although the factory did not inform the labours about the closure, they found out that the factory equipment was being moved from nearby labours who informed each other. The factory's legal existence and violations of the law are questionable to the Ministry of Labor. The labours suffer the loss of social security, legal notice and service wages due to the sudden closure of the factory, so that it is not enough to solve the problem by just getting a compensation is a point what the laboural activists need to consider.
The news of the HONG MIAO Garment Co.Ltd factory in Thadhukan Industrial Zone became one of the most shocking news in a month. The labours in that factory were working in dangerous conditions. Nearly 50 labours who organized a union and tried to speak out about the dangerous working conditions were fired by the factory officials.
Water entered even the machine lines that work with electricity. The labor activists were able to identify that the water that used in the factory is not pure, but the officials of the factory and the Ministry of Labor could not come up with a good solution.
Inspection teams entered the factory and inspected it, but the fans, which were revealed to have been used in the workplace on that day, were took back the next day. There were no workplace reforms, and the factory did not reassign some of the labours who led the organization of the union. After this, it was announced that the factory would be closed, and police security was placed inside the factory.
The HONG MIAO Garment Co.Ltd garment factory and the Ministry of Labor officials ignored the union formation measures according to the law, and the Ministry of Labor officials violated the ethics. Officials of the Ministry of Labor gave the names of labours who tried to form a union to the factory. The factory fired all the workers.
Officials from the Ministry of Labor negotiated a contract to reassign some labours but it is clearly seen of the two faces in between the employer and the labours. In addition, it can be clearly seen in this incident that ministry turned a blind eye to the violations of the law by the factory owner.
Myanmar Labour News considered that the employer and ministry officials should know that the lack of a vision of that forming a trade union is for the benefits of the labour, employer and the state but not for the own’s benefits.
According to the latest news, the owner of the factory announced a fake notice fee, and instead of paying a notice fee, they provided a small amount of money in the form of a support fee. HONG MIAO Garment Co.Ltd garment factory manufactured the international FieldCore brand.
The factory that doesn’t allowed to form a union is the Myanmar Zande Garment factory in Industrial Zone 2 Hlaing Thar Yar. In this factory, there is no survey upon the labours for overtime. Forcing them to work all light, all night overtime and even intimidate them. Myanmar Zande Garment factory is manufacturing LERROS brand.
According to the data collected by Myanmar Labour News, every factory that does not allow the formation of a union violates the labour law the most.
It was reported in September that it was very difficult to form the trade unions to form due to warrants to the labour leaders and activist, arrests of those who demanded higher wages and making it difficult to form unions.
Can WCC be reliable?
In Myanmar's labor laws, the law makes it mandatory to establish a WCC to resolve disputes between factories and labours. Only 4 of the 18 factories have formed WCC Myanmar Labour News reported in September.
WCC means a group of representatives with the labours and the factory officials with the aim of reducing workplace disputes. The current situation of WCC groups is that they do not conduct transparent election of members, doing actions representing only the factory, reluctance of the WCC labor representative himself to speak to the factory side about labor issues, no representatives who focus on labor issues and the WCC group is organized according to the preferences of the factory. Because of this, the concerned labours do not trust the WCC organization at all. These are the weakness of the current WCC organizations.
Due to these weaknesses, it can also be seen that the factories that do not allow to form a trade union have many problems in the workplace. (Figure 3)
Pressure and impact of factory officials
According to the labours issues such as not hearing the labours in advance about calling overtime, not having time to take a break, not enough seats for lunch, difference between employment wages and paid wages, the abuses of the Chinese Woman in the workplace, leaders swearing, demanding more and more standards, having to work overtime for other department, all light overtime in every Sunday occurs in BOHUA fashion at Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone.
It was also seen that due to the labours being forced to work without a day off and working under pressure, there were frequent conflicts between the management and the labours. Complaining labours told Myanmar Labor News that there is no smooth relationship between supervisor-level stuffs and basic labours. BOHUA Fashion Co.,ltd factory was reported 3 times in Myanmar Labour News in September, and all the complainants unanimously said that there is not a good relationship between the supervisors and the labours.
BOHUA Fashion Co.,ltd is a factory that manufacture European brands such as Sinsay၊ CROPP၊ P&VV၊ PROTECTION.
No survey for overtime and threatened Layoffs
Among the issues faced by labours every month, there is no survey for overtime work but being fired and being threatened with it. Most threats are made by supervisors. The violations by the factory officials are that they do not ask about the labour’s wishes to work overtime and treat not working overtime as a violation of the rules and are not liable to be dismissed easily, the labours said. (Figure-4)
9 factories were reported in September for violating the law by forcing the labours to work overtime. Those factories are Glory Home, Ford Glory Lian Cheng (Myanmar), Myanmar Zande Garment, BOHUA Fashion, Jun Sheng Garment Co., LTD. S-M MYANMAR GARMENT CO, LTD. LAT WAR (3) and (Myanmar) SYNERGY GARMENT.
The factories that force overtime but do not pay are (Myanmar) SYNERGY GARMENT and Jun Sheng Garment Co, LTD. Next, the Lian Cheng (Myanmar) factory said that they paid the ticket fee and wages, and asked the labours to work until 8:00 p.m. and did not pay them for overtime. The factory that asked to work overtime and that substitute is the LAT WAR (3) factory.
In September, violations related to overtime were forced to work overtime, threatened to fire if refused. Intimidation in other ways; discrimination, no surveying of the labours' wishes, forcing more than the overtime hours specified by law and not giving day offs.
Labours at the Glory Home mattress factory in Mya Sein Yaung Industrial Zone had to work 10 hours a day, and had to work overtime on weekends and Sundays which are stipulated as Holidays by law. They said that if they take off work on Sunday, they have to give a warning certificate (Wantin). If they miss work twice that Sunday, they would be fired. (Figure 5)
Almost all of the 18 factories where workers complained in September were garment factories, with only one mattress factory as another type of business. Tried to call continuous over time but failed
Myanmar labor laws have detailed provisions regarding leave. Medical leave, casual leave and seniority leave are also defined. But most of the garment factories reported in Myanmar Labor News, violate the law regarding leave. It was found that that violation was even included in the factory terms and conditions and arbitrary violations.
More than 90 percent of labours in Myanmar garment factories are women. It is still a difficult challenge for them as there are health challenges for women garment labours due to the nature of women's bodies and the weak health measures in Myanmar.
In September, there were 5 factories that complained about the leave, and those factories are BOHUA Fashion, Jun Sheng Garment Co., LTD. Gibaek Myanmar Co., Ltd. LAT WAR (3) and Galaxy (Myanmar). Violations related to leave are not allowing medical and casual leave and reducing the grade and attendance bonus for reporting leave and miss a work as they don’t permit leave.
Workplace slanders
In September, the number of factories reported for slander continued to rise. Among the 18 factories that were reported, 8 factories that were reported to have slander are still involved.
Slandering in the workplace such as shouting, intimidations and discriminations affect workplace peace and affect productivity, according to surveys. In addition, the sufferer also has and psychological damages.
During the month of September, each levels such as the owner of the factory, as well as the manager, Interpreter, all super, line supers and leaders participated in the slander in the workplace according to the labours.
In September, the factories that were complained about slanders in the workplace are Kfine International Garment (Myanmar), Myanmar Zande Garment, Myanmar Guotai Huasheng Glory Fashion ,BOHUA Fashion, Jun Sheng Garment Co., LTD. S-M MYANMAR GARMENT CO., LTD. LAT WAR (3) and (Myanmar) SYNERGY GARMENT. Labours said that the owner of the Galaxy (Myanmar) Garment Factory in Industrial Zone 2 Hlaing Thar Yar was also shouting in the workplace and they behaved violently, such as throwing objects.
In September, factories thar were accused of violating the law's leave and overtime provisions and swearing in the workplace are BOHUA Fashion and Jun Sheng Garment Co, LTD garment factory from the Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, Lat War 3 from the Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone.
The factories that violate the law and call for overtime are slandered in the workplace are Myanmar Zande Garment Factory and (Myanmar) SYNERGY GARMENT in Industrial Zone 2 Hlaing Thar Yar and S-M MYANMAR Garment CO, LTD in Shwe Than Lwin Industrial Zone. (Figure 6)
The brands that are being manufactured in garment factories that violate labour laws and ethics are SINSAY, Sustainable Product, Support the cotton made in Africa, Bpc selection, SNI, RESERVED, ZARA, LERROS, PRIMARK, esmara, Inextenso, mayorl, FieldCore etc.
This is a summary of news related to violations of labor rights reported in Myanmar Labour News in September 2023.
Myanmar Labour News
Research Team
Min Mi Kyaw