By Min Ni Kyaw - Jun 18, 2025
#Letter
I'm from Tianjin Fashion Milestone.
We’re having problems with the transportation.
The factory says they are providing enough vehicles for everyone. There are over 1,300 workers in the factory, and 32 ferry buses are currently in use.
The problem now is that the ferries are arriving late. They don't reach the designated pickup points on time in the mornings. They usually get to the factory around 7:40 or 7:45 a.m.
Our work time starts at 7:30 a.m. We don’t have time to eat breakfast as the ferries are late. Even though the factory doesn't penalize us for arriving a little late due to the ferry, HR staff are standing guard at the canteen, so we aren’t allowed to have breakfast anymore. This has become a daily issue.
Lunchtime is around 12 noon, and it’s very hard for us to endure until then. We’re worried we might develop stomach problems if this keeps up.
We get off work at 6:30 p.m. in the evenings. (or 7:30 p.m. if there's overtime). But the ferry buses don’t arrive on time. We have to wait for them. The waiting area in front of the factory gets flooded in the rainy season. We worry about snakes and insects in that water.
The ferries usually don’t come until 7 or 8 p.m. We don’t get dropped off near our homes, and we end up arriving late. There are also military checkpoints around that time. We’re concerned about safety too.
The buses used are very small, and many of us have to squat or cling on while riding.
Our supervisors speak to us harshly or indirectly blame us if we skip overtime because of ferry issues.
We also face problems as line leaders only care about meeting excessive production quotas and pleasing the factory owner.
We've reported the ferry issue to line leaders, WCC (Workplace Coordination Committee members, and the HR staff in charge of ferry coordination. But nothing has changed.
We want the management to take a look at our situation.
(Tianjin Fashion Milestone Garment is a Chinese natioal-owned factory located on Seikkan Thar Road, Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaing Tharyar Township, Yangon. This is the same factory where workers recently protested to demand wage increases. It employs over 1,000 workers and manufacture VERO MODA brand.)
