The factory was closed on Friday, and they told me that the salary would be issued on the 5th, and the compensation would be issued on the 26th. All the workers came to ask about it on their own. HR called the police, and there were about 5 fully armed police," the labour said.
HONG MIAO Garment Co; Ltd which locates in No.4 road, Thar Du Kan Industrial Zone, Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon Division announced in a letter on September 26 that it would close the factory after violations of labor rights, and currently, the factory is calling the police to solve the problem when the workers come to ask questions about salary and compensation issues.
The factory was closed this morning. They said that the salary would be issued on the 5th, and the compensation would be issued on the 26th. Those who have over 1 year service will receive a compensation equivalent to one month salary and those who work for 6 months will be paid half a month's ration. The rest of the labours said they didn't get anything. We came on our own and thought we had to know something. The labours have already arrived. Labours want them to give compensation for all labours. Social Security benefits for pregnant women and to pay the tap servicers as before. October 5th is not sure. We want them to give us the day we arrived. There are 11 pregnant labours. We came to request those 4 points,” said a labour.
However, in fact, among the more than 380 labours in the factory, there are only a few senior labours, and most of the labours are day laborers, tap servicers and labours who have not reached the age of 6 months. The labours said that since the pregnant workers are also involved, they would like to request some kind of compensation for them.
"Currently, there are also some unfinished fabrics. They said they will be closed on the evening of the 26th. We worked until Friday. The pregnant women are the ones who will get leave in October. I asked them how it would be for them. They said that they will pay as much as they are willing to pay 1o,000 or 30,000. It was very bad. I can’t bare what they said for the pregnant women. They are not accepting anything in the discussion now. It has been one year and 11 months since the factory opened," they said.
The factory has committed violations of labor rights in the workplace, and the workers formed a labor union and applied to the head office, but they did not come and inspect it, nor did they provide a form. In fact, 48 labours who formed the union were found out by the employer from the head office and all 48 workers in the union were fired for the reason that they did not have an order.
The factory was in trouble because many unionized labours were fired after forming a union due to many violations of labor rights. On September 20th of last month, after negotiations were held, the fired labours returned to the workplace.
Despite such intervention, the 9 trade union leaders were not reappointed, and they said they would continue to negotiate with many other violations, but without further resolution, the factory was closed, saying there was no order.
This morning, October 2nd, labours appeal four points that to give compensation for all labours, to pay social security benefits for pregnant women, to pay the tap servicers as before and to pay the September’s salary on this Monday, today.
The factory manufactures FieldCore brands with around 400 workers and it is said that other orders are also made.
After negotiating the dispute, the workers who entered the factory on September 21 made appeals for the workplace where the water entering the factory was too dangerous, the water being used in the factory was too dirty and no insufficient fans but on September 26, they issued a letter of notice to close the factory saying there was no orders.
