By Min Ni Kyaw - Jan 27, 2025
Workers at Grand Forest International Apparel in the Ywar Thar Gyi Industrial Zone said they are required to work overtime until midnight and are forced to sleep inside the factory. They also reported that supervisors mistreat and verbally abuse them if they refuse to work overtime.
"They make us work overtime until midnight, and then we have to sleep wherever we can inside the factory and went back to home in the morning. There’s no ferry service provided. For those coming from far away, they have to leave their clothes at nearby houses and return the next day. The worst part is working until 6:30 PM on Saturdays. That’s usually when we need time to shop for groceries and cook. Since the ferry ride takes around two hours, we don’t get home until 8:30 PM, and by then, all the stores are closed. It feels like we’re just wasting away. The supervisors call us out and scold us if we refuse overtime. Some of them even use slurs against us. Even the technicians do it and they use harsh words against us if we don’t meet the production target. It’s really hard to bear," a worker said.
Workers are required to work overtime three to four times a week. They also stated that the late-night shifts and working until 6:30 PM on Saturdays have been ongoing since before the Thadingyut holiday. Additionally, workers face difficulties with transportation as they are forced to commute in unsafe and overcrowded conditions.
"On the ferry, both men and women have to stand packed together. A vehicle meant for 20 people is packed with 30. It’s extremely unsafe. There are also daily wage workers in the factory. I’m not sure if they are legally of working age. They work as helpers, but they don’t receive daily allowances, paid holidays, or bonuses for meeting production targets. However, they do the same work as us," another worker said.
Inside the factory, workers struggle due to the lack of proper facilities. The toilets have no lights, making them difficult to use, and the clinic lacks both nurses and medical supplies, workers reported. Additionally, they said that if they request gate passes to leave the factory for personal reasons or apply for leave, their salaries are deducted.
"They deduct 2,000 kyats if we request a gate pass for one hour. and deduct a full day’s wage if it is in the afternoon. We don’t get any allowances at all if you take a leave of absence —they deduct everything. We protested the excessive overtime, and in response, the factory said they would change the working hours to 7:30 AM daily and 5 PM on Saturdays. But that’s still not acceptable. We’d still be finishing late every day. We don’t want overtime on Saturdays," a female worker said.
Workers also reported that due to the late-night overtime, they often face security checks on their way home and experience anxiety and fear.
Despite repeatedly filing complaints in various ways to the township labor office about these issues, workers said no action has been taken to investigate or resolve their concerns.
Grand Forest International Apparel is located at the corner of Saya San Road and Sin Phyu Road in the Ywar Thar Gyi Industrial Zone, Dagon Seikkan Township, Yangon. Workers said the factory is Chinese-owned and employs around 1,200 workers who manufacture garments for Chinese and Japanese brands. According to information obtained by Myanmar Labour News, Grand Forest International Apparel Co., Ltd shipped jacket garments manufactured in December 2024 to the United Kingdom.
