By Min Ni Kyaw - Mar 17, 2025
Dear Sir/Madam,
We have been continuously forced to work overtime until 11 PM since news about Honda Factory surfaced on Facebook. This has been happening for a long time—not just for one or two months.
Workers are being subjected to forced labour without any regard from any organization, authority, or legal framework. It seems like employers can impose work as they please, without any restrictions.
The daily wage is based on an 11-hour work schedule according to the agreements made with workers. Every worker who comes to China for garment work understands that any working hours beyond 11 hours should be compensated as overtime.
The regular working hours at the factory officially end at 8 PM. Any work done beyond that is considered overtime. However, we are now being forced to work until 11 PM without receiving any overtime pay. This mandatory overtime without compensation is completely unacceptable.
We are forced to work until 9 PM every week even on Saturdays. You can only imagine the level of exhaustion and hardship we endure.
Working night shifts in a cold climate, combined with inadequate food, makes it extremely difficult for us to regain their energy.
We are insulted and have our wages deducted if we refuse overtime. We are not allowed to take leave even when we are sick. Instead, we are forced sign warning.
It feels like we are working illegally in a foreign country. We don’t know whom to turn to or which organization to report to if we face any injustice. These threats and forced punishment work make us feel extremely scared.
Many workers in the garment factories of Manxi, Ruili, and Ying Jiang in China came here with significant investments. We had to put up our homes, land, and other assets as collateral to come and work here.
Myanmar workers are already struggling in extreme poverty. On top of that, back home, our families are living under an unstable political situation, facing threats, and struggling for survival. The forced military conscription is also destroying family lives.
The labour contracts in these Chinese garment factories are one-sided and exploitative. We still came here for garment work fespite knowing the risks and potential losses.
However, things have now gone beyond what we can endure, and that is why we are reporting this issue.
Myanmar workers are suffering greatly. We urge you to inform the labour offices in China about these injustices.
