By Hsu Latt Phyu - Nov 25, 2023
Workers at the CHEUNG HING MYANMAR woolen factory which located at Nga Moe Yate Road, War Ta Yar Industrial Zone, Shwe Pyi Thar Township are having a hard time because they are forced to work overtime and not paid during the factory's weekends due to the tap system and excessive demands for fabric standards.
"Right now, the factory is paying 7,000 per hour. We don't want that. We want the 5,800 per hour. And 1,400 per hour for OT. Now, they have paid 7,000 per hour and tap system. To be clear, the daily wages of 7,000 and 210,000 per month, and the attendance bonus 15,000, total more than 225,000. We didn't get paid for the garment because we didn’t sew enough for the whole month. Last month, the factory was closed for 4 days. I missed 2 days, so I only got 170,000 for the whole month," explained the worker.
The workers said that they want to receive 5,600 day wages and OT wages according to the law like other factories. The worker said that the daily rate of 7,000 per day started in June 2023, and the working hours of a day are from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (previously 11:00 a.m.) and the worker said that they were working 14 hours a day.
"It is impossible to do it with the fabric fee. If there are no orders or if they close every 2 days or 3 days, we want to get paid the full wages. The commodity price is high, so we want the full wages. The fabric they provide is sometimes easy and sometimes hard. Those who can sew much get as they work but sometimes, we have to work until 10 o'clock at night not even finished," said a long-term skilled worker.
If the workers miss a day of work, they will be cut 7,000 kyats of daily wages and 15,000 of attendance bonus; a total of 22,000.
"Sometimes there are people who have to work until 4:00 p.m. Some until 8:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. For workers, if they get overtime, they want to get paid." said the garment worker.
The worker said that the Chinese-owned factory has more than 600 workers and sews brands such as NEXT, CARTH, and CELIO. The worker also said that there is no labor union in the workplace.
The worker said that after the day fee was changed into the tap system basis, and that there were factory days off and they were not paid for those days, so they wanted to be paid.
"They committed violations against the workers. Last month (October) we were closed for 4 days. We did not pay the daily wages. When audit came to check and they asked us to lie by signing that they paid 70 percent of the 4 days that is 14,400 kyats. We did not really get paid," they said.
According to the workers, they want the resolvent of the violations of labor rights by the employer, not to force them, to pay wages for the days the factory was closed last month, and instead of the tap cut system, they want the daily fee and OT fee system.
