By Ma Ma - Feb 22, 2025
Workers at the Chinese national-owned CHARIS Co., Ltd. report that they are being pressured to sign a recognition agreement for a Workplace Coordination Committee (WCC) unilaterally formed by the employer. Additionally, they state that their wages for Sunday are also being deducted if they take leave.
The factory, located on Mya Tharaphi Road in Mya Sein Yaung Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, operates with over 200 workers.
There is no trade union in the factory, and the employer is pushing for recognition of the WCC, which was formed without workers' participation.
Workers are engaged in sculpting figurines and claim that labor rights violations are occurring within the workplace.
"Our job involves sculpting figurines and spraying metal coatings. The employer demands production targets that workers cannot realistically meet. We staged a 26-day strike in November last year, but none of our demands were met. Officials from the Department of Labor mediated, and after the employer paid some money, 14 strike leaders were fired while the rest were allowed to return to work. Now, the employer has formed a WCC, but it only includes supervisors and office staff. The supervisors call us in for questioning when we refuse to sign the recognition agreement. Recently, officials claiming to be from the Hmawbi Township Labor Office came to the factory, and one of them, U Win Thu, told the employer, ' Just shut down the factory if they strike again,'" said a factory worker.
Daily allowances and subsidies amounting to 7,800 kyats, along with an attendance bonus of 30,000 kyats, are being withheld when workers take leave. Additionally, Sunday wages are also deducted, resulting in a total deduction of up to 60,000 kyats for a single day of absence.
"There are also daily wage workers in the factory. They are required to work overtime on Sundays, but they do not receive overtime pay. Moreover, there are many days when there is no drinking water available in the factory, forcing workers to go without water," another worker reported.
Due to these ongoing labor rights violations, workers have sought assistance from the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM).
Workers are demanding legally mandated leave benefits, overtime pay for daily wage workers required to work on Sundays, a consistent supply of drinking water, dissolution of the employer-controlled WCC, an end to pressure on workers to sign WCC recognition agreements and an end to Sunday wage deductions when workers take leave
