By Myo Thein - Sep 09, 2025
Workers say factories are forcibly collecting money and deducting wages under the pretext of Thadingyut traditions, which typically involve paying respects to parents, teachers, and elders.
“This kind of forced wage and daily wage deductions are happening in nearly every garment factory. They’re deducting the daily wage amount for paying respects, which causes financial loss to the workers,” said a garment worker to Myanmar Labour News.
Due to the collection being made across entire factories, workers say the total can amount to between 70 lakhs and over 100 lakhs kyats. The main collectors are said to be line supervisors and floor in-charges, and it remains unclear whether factory management is aware of or involved in the collections.
“They come around saying it’s for paying respects, and they collect money. We don’t know whether the factory knows or not. That day, they distribute snacks. It seems like it’s coming from our own pockets. It would be acceptable if people could contribute voluntarily, depending on their willingness,” said one worker.
Currently, the official minimum wage stands at 4,800 kyats. The government has instructed that a 2,000 kyat subsidy be added by the end of 2024, meaning workers are officially earning a daily wage of 6,800 kyats.
“Even 7,500 is too much. In our factory, they collect 10,000 per person, and up to 20,000, 30,000, or 50,000 depending on your position. I won’t say it’s unfair to collect more from higher positions, but for us, 10,000 is a whole day’s wage,” another worker said.
These collections are reportedly being carried out by mid-level supervisors, and such practices are said to be especially common during festive periods like Thadingyut, Tazaungdaing, and Thingyan, according to an official from Myanmar Labour News.
“These kinds of forced collections increase during times of donation and festivals when we review complaints. From our findings, offerings are mostly made to factory owners, Chinese overseers, and supervisors or managers. It’s sometimes even worse. At the end of last year, there were reports of supervisors deducting wages to buy gold for a female factory manager. So, the real instigators are known only to those directly involved. Most workers don’t know who’s really behind it,” the official said.
In addition to mandatory wage deductions for donations, some collections are reportedly being made for personal reasons. There are also deductions for funerals, administrative levels, or oversight staff; all done under pressure and threats, according to another worker.
“We work under them, so if we don’t pay when they ask, we get blacklisted. In our factory, the line supervisors are the ones collecting. They just want to get favor. Recently, they even collected money to give gold to the manager for her birthday,” she said.
Despite the recent increase in minimum wage, rising living expenses and inflation have made it difficult for workers to feel any improvement. Workers say these forced deductions especially of daily wages during holidays and religious periods are burdensome and should be stopped.
