By Yoon Sat - Aug 15, 2024
Workers from Chinese national owned BONTECH MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD garment factory which located at Padamyar Street, Thabawa Bus-stop, Thar Du Kan Industrial Zone, Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon region said that they are being exploited.
“The daily wage is 7,800 kyats and the overtime is paid 1,500 kyats per hour. Actually, it should be 1,950 kyats. We also should get paid the daily wage on day offs. But we are being exploited. We get paid only 6,800 kyats for overtime on Sunday and the overtime is not double of the hourly rate. Daily wage 7,800 kyats, attendance bonus 15,000 kyats, grade bonus 5,000 kyats are cut for missing work a single day. We don’t get paid the attendance bonus at all if we miss for two days. We don’t get any leaves except medical leave,” said the worker.
The factory is operating with around 1,000 workers and manufacturing DELTAPLUS brand apparals. The working hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. including 3 hours of overtime.
Workers get paid 4,800 + 3,000 kyats; 7,800 kyats daily wages, 30,000 kyats attendance bonus, 1,500 kyats overtime per hour, 30,000 kyats grade bonus and the 7,800 daily wage is only for Monday to Saturday but only get paid 6,800 kyats on Sunday.
The factory usually call mid-night and all-night overtimes without surveying the consents of workers but instead forcing them.
The factory only paid 12,000 kyats for working overtime on Sundays and public holidays instead of paying double. The pregnant workers are also assigned the same tasks with others.
Workers who work mid-night and all-night overtimes were charged 1,000 kyats per 5 minute late arrival to work in the morning and 15,000 kyats from the attendance bonus is cut on the third time and the factory humiliate them by writing names are written on the visible whiteboard.
“We work the whole night and try to come back on time in the morning without enough sleep. They are cutting the daily wages they paid by their own rules. The workers only left with health issues. We were working tirelessly for them but they are humiliating us instead of appreciating,” the worker said.
They were also asked fabric outputs that exceeds than their productivity and the line managers verbally abuse them if they can’t finish on time.
“The factory doesn’t care the rules in the Employment Contract. Not everyone have EC contract. Only those who have worked 6 months or a year have it. They cut our wages but we don’t know by what rules. We don’t know where they spend those money but we only know that it is not for us and we are cut,” a worker stated.
“More than 5 workers from button affix department got injuries on their hand and they were given unpaid leave. They already have 6 months or 1 year of service but they came to work with bandages in order to get money. The factory doesn’t have responsibility and accountability but only pressurizing and exploiting,” a worker said.
Workers said they want to ask for 10 points regarding the labor right abuses and those are
1. To not write the names of workers who late for 5 minutes on whiteboard and to not cut their attendance bonus
2. To assign light tasks to pregnant workers and to allow the workers who don’t want to work overtime to go back.
3. To move the dinning place in accordance with health concerns as it is close to the toilet
4. To not cut the workers who were injured after being forced to work at the department which is not their expertise and to allow them to take paid leave until they recover
5. To not ask fabric outputs more than they can manufacture and to take actions on the leaders who verbally abuse
6. To not force overtime to the workers who don’t want to work and to allow the workers to decide on their consents
7. To give double of the overtime fees for working on Sundays and public holidays and to re-calculate the days which they were only get paid daily wages with back dates
8. To give overtime fees 1,950 kyats per hour as the daily wages is 7,800 kyats
9. To provide sufficient transportation
10. To allow leaves and to not cut grade bonus, attendance bonus and daily wages for taking leave
