By Min Ni Kyaw - Nov 20, 2024
Workers at the Lianfa garment factory are facing daily overtimes and being forced to work mid-night and all-night shifts, causing significant family-related issues, according to workers.
“My family worries me when I have to work overnight shifts. Even when I refuse to work and want to return home, supervisors pull me off from the bus and force me to stay. It’s causing constant arguments with my family,” said one worker.
The workers report that they are required to work overtime daily until 8 PM and every Saturday until 4 AM. Female workers say they are not given breaks from meal times until the overtime ends at 8 PM, forcing them to work continuously.
“Sometimes, we don’t go home for three or four days. We work to dawn and then continue again the next day. On days we get to leave at 8 PM, it feels like good luck. But no matter how much we complain, nothing at the factory changes,” said another worker.
The Lianfa (Myanmar) Company, located in Min Ayar Road, Shwe Than Lwin Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar (East) Township, Yangon, employs around 300 workers, most of whom are women.
“Only the cutting department doesn’t have overnight shifts. Even then, women workers in that department are still forced to work overnight. But instead of being assigned to their regular tasks, they are made to do work from other departments in the factory,” said another female worker.
In August 2024, the Ministry of Labour instructed factories to provide workers with a 1,000 MMK monthly subsidy. However, workers claim that the Lianfa factory did not pay this subsidy for the month of August, violating the directive.
After workers filed a complaint, the township labor office conducted an inspection, but the workers said they still did not receive the subsidy for August.
“We don’t know how the labour office conducted the inspection. Workers have pay slips issued by the company, and if they had verified those, the truth would have come out. If they only accept evidence provided by the company, there’s no way the outcome will be fair,” said one worker.
The subsidy office reportedly inspected the factory but only questioned supervisors chosen by the factory, according to workers.
In one case, a worker who was terminated requested the factory pay back the 30,000 MMK subsidy for August. Following their demand, the factory eventually returned the money, Myanmar Labour News reported.
The Lianfa (Myanmar) garment factory operates under foreign investment and manufactures brands such as SINSAY and FSBN.
