By Min Ni Kyaw - May 19, 2025
Workers at the Sunrise Myanmar Fashion garment factory say that they are being denied legal rights because the factory employs them as daily workers and fails to offer permanent contracts.
“There are daily workers in the factory. Some have been working from 3 to 6 months. Even with that much experience, they get dismissed at will without any compensation. And the factory hires new workers again as daily workers within less than a week,” workers said.
The workers said they want those who have completed 3 months of employment to be offered permanent contracts and provided with legally mandated benefits as the factory is a regularly operating one and not a temporary workshop. They added that the factory is manufacturing the Japanese brand BURTLE and that brand representatives were misled about the factory’s support for workers.
“When BURTLE officials asked whether the factory provides rice, cooking oil, and salt to the workers, they were told that all the workers were given those supplies. But in reality, the factory has never provided any support. Not once have they given rice, oil, or salt. The factory refused, saying there was no need even when brand representatives offered to provide it. The factory claimed to have given the supplies when it had not,” they said.
The factory’s working hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., including overtime, and workers said they are often required to work overtime even on Sundays, the designated weekly off-day. It was learned that workers are compelled to work overtime without being asked for their consent.
“The workload was heavy on the recent full moon day of Kasone, and workers were called in to work. But no ferry transportation was arranged, and only 1,000 kyats were given as transportation cost,” the workers said.
They added that they are not allowed to receive emergency medical care when workplace injuries occur but instead have to wait for treatment at social welfare clinics. Although the factory has a clinic with a nurse, it lacks a full supply of necessary medicines.
“In real emergencies, permission is not granted even when we need to go to outside clinics. The factory does arrange transportation, but only when their vehicle is available. So, injured workers have to wait for the vehicle’s schedule. If something happens in the morning, they may not be able to go until the evening, which is not convenient,” they said.
Sunrise Myanmar Fashion Garment Factory is located on Kyauk Sein Road, Thadukan Industrial Zone 4, Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon Region. The factory is owned by Chinese national. It does not have a labor union but has formed a WCC (Workplace Coordination Committee). Currently, about 800 factory workers are manufacturing the Japanese brand BURTLE.
