By Min Ni Kyaw - Dec 23, 2023
The RONG DA Garment factory is calling for 3 hours of overtime every day and forcing them to work on Sundays, the garment workers said.
The guidelines on the Ministry of Labor website state that overtime work should not exceed 20 hours.
"Overtime at the factory is 3 hours daily from Monday to Friday. On Saturday, it is until 7:00 p.m. We have to work overtime for 7 hours. In November, we have to work 3 days out of 4 off days. In month December we only have 1 day rest. They are telling us to work substitute on Sunday for the Christmas too," said one of the workers.
The Ministry of Labor guidelines state that 3 hours of overtime can be called from Monday to Friday and 5 hours of overtime on Saturdays. In addition, overtime calls must be submitted to relevant labor offices with a letter of the worker's agreement to work overtime.
"There was no advance notice that the factory would call for overtime. There is no asking the consent of the workers. We can’t refuse too. In some departments of the factory, there are people who have to work until 12 midnight. They had to sleep in the factory. Even if we have to work overtime in the evening, they don't give a break. We had to work until 7pm. We can't eat anything or take a rest," a worker said.
A factory worker explained that RONG DA Garment Factory's normal working hours are from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM but they have to work continuously without a break from 12:00 to 7:00 after the afternoon break.
Myanmar's law on workplaces stipulates that a certain working time period should not exceed 5 hours and that there should be breaks.
“Leaves are not allowed unless you are comfortable with the leaders. It's been a year since I've been working overtime like that. It's been almost 2 months to work on Sundays. I'm tired enough to not want to go to work. What I want is to close days like Sundays and Christmas," said a worker.
At the RONG DA Garment factory, for health and social reasons, the supervisors said that they were angry with the workers who did not work overtime even though they were allowed to take a gate pass after the lunch break.
At the RONG DA Garment factory, the supervisors angry with the workers who did not work overtime even though they were allowed to take a gate pass after the lunch break for health and social reasons.
The RONG DA Garment factory is operating with foreign investment and is owned by Chinese nationals.
The workers said that the factory is located in War Ta Yar Industrial Zone, Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon and there are around 3,000 workers at Min Bandhu Pagoda Road.
There is neither trade unions in the factory nor WCC group. RONG DA Garment factory is known to be a factory that sews brands such as Logos Park, Beloved and Bekkin.
