At the Myanmar U-Known fishing hook and sports equipment factory which resides in No.21(A), Ngwe Pinlae Street 2, Ngwe Pinlae Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon, the valuable equipment and underground cables left in the factory are being moved and transported by the employer and the labours are worried as they have not been informed of anything.

It is owned by a Chinese national, has more than 200 employees, and has been operating for about 8 years. According to the labours, the factory manufactures fishing hooks and sports equipment. Currently, the labours have nothing assigned to do except to clean the drains, and the rest of the time they sit in the factory.

“On August 11th, some equipment is being taken out to be reused in a factory that will be opened in Vietnam. The boss's manager is also selling the unnecessary items. When the labours found out about it, they asked the person in charge and said back that they were sending back unnecessary items because there were no orders. When the employer and workers were called by the relevant department, the labours asked whether it was possible to remove the items from the workplace without assigning the labours to work, the employer said that the government department could not interfere with the removal of his property since he had always paid the labours and had not been released from work. The labours also asked if they have to watch with their hands folded knowing that he will run away after carrying out all the items. The boss said that if he has run away now, don't tell that if he hasn’t yet. if he does so, he will deal in accordance to the law and procedures,” said by a labour.

 The labours hand phones are confiscated as they took the photos of the materials being transported in containers and also the underground cables being re-excavated. In the event of the factory's closure, the labours have expressed their desire to ensure that the deserving compensation is provided to them.

 “The relevant labor departments are aware of the removal of materials from the factory, but the labours are worried as they have not taken any urgent action, providing protection to the labours.

 The labours suffer a lot in these kinds of cases because if the employer has run away, and they will not be able to fully receive the compensation they deserve. Now, the relevant offices do know the case but it seems like they prefer neglecting rather than openly talking about the issue,” commented by a person who observes laboural issues.

 In the past, when some factories in the industrial zone closed down, the labours should severance pay according to the law, but the relevant department didn’t solve and if there was a runaway of employers, the factory equipment was sold at auction and the remaining debts were usually paid. At present, there is no operation anymore and it is suspicious that valuable items are being taken out of the workplace, so the labours said that they want to be properly informed and resolved by the relevant departments.