By Min Ni Kyaw - May 18, 2025
Supervisors at Dishang Fashion (Myanmar) are demanding bribes in the form of clothing and footwear purchases in exchange for skill level promotions, workers report.
“In the QC department — whether we’re on probation or a permanent staff — when they say they'll promote us to a skilled level, it doesn’t reflect on our pay yet. But the supervisors and leaders say, ‘We’ve already listed you for a skill upgrade this month,’ and then tell us things like, ‘This outfit looks good,’ or ‘I love those shoes from that shop,’ and ask us to buy them. Workers feel forced to comply. They face pressure and trouble from the supervisors if they don’t,” one worker said.
Workers say that those who refuse to buy items for their supervisors are accused of being lazy, skipping work, or making frequent sewing errors, and are subjected to verbal harassment and mental pressure.
“They make it stressful in subtle ways. There's corruption and extortion going on inside the factory. Even workers who complete three months of employment often don’t get skill-level pay like others. The skill allowance is based only on attendance — it’s not a real increase. And I don’t want to buy anything for these supervisors and leaders,” another worker said.
The skill allowance is reportedly structured as follows: 500 kyats per day for A4, 700 for A3, 1,100 for A2, and 1,600 for A1 level. Workers say probationary employees must complete three months before they’re eligible, and only then if their promotion is approved by the supervisor or line leader — a system workers claim has created space for favoritism and bribery.
Workers also reported an incident during the April Thingyan holidays where a worker who traveled back to Sittwe was given manager-approved seniority leave due to difficulty returning on time. However, upon return, the worker was still dismissed by the factory director.
“She asked for seniority leave because she couldn’t return in time. She had worked here for 8 years, so the manager gave her 10 days of seniority leave. She returned on May 2, right as her leave expired, and contacted the manager for an extension — which the manager approved. She resumed work, but then the factory director said she had missed too many days and fired her. She explained she had done everything as told. She asked WCC to help resolve the issue, and they said they couldn’t because she had already been fired,” said a worker.
Dishang Fashion (Myanmar) Co., Ltd is a Chinese national-owned garment factory employing over 800 workers. It currently manufactures the ONLY brand. While a Workplace Coordination Committee (WCC) exists at the factory, workers say there is no independent trade union representation.
