Workers from the garment factory owned by the U&G (Myanmar) Fashion Co.,Ltd said that they are being called overtime until mid-night continuously for two months and having to work all-night on Saturdays.
“We are called until 11:00 p.m. once in two days by rotation. It reaches until 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays,” said a seamstress.
Overtime is called mandatorily and those who doesn’t work are humiliated by the superiors in public and cut. The Saturday overtimes are not called since last 2 weeks but the other overtimes are still being called.
The 2022 Factories and General Labor Law Inspection Department's directive only allowed up to 20 hours of overtime per week. In addition, it is stated that overtime calls can only be made with the consent of the workers, and employers and factory managers will be held accountable for everything during the overtime.
A worker said that they have to sleep unproperly at the factory to work for another day after working overtime until mid-night in the U&G factory.
“We have to sleep on the floor after working until 11:30 and we don’t feel secure as the male workers are also working. We can go back home only after finish overtime Saturday. Our parents are also worry for us,” said a worker.
The pregnant workers are also called overtime the same as the other workers on the grounds of labour shortage. The workers work continuously from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm without a break and the factory provide meal fees for overtime.
“Pregnant workers are not forced to work after they were pregnant for one or two months. But not for now. We get 30 minutes break for lunch from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm but no break time again until 6:00 pm. The normal overtime is also called until 6:00 or 7:00 pm every two week.
The factory allow certain leaves but the daily wages and benefits are cut. And working continuously for 6 hours cause workers to suffer from health issues.
“We don’t get much rest time. And the main cause is because of starvation. We have to eat by avoiding the in charges so some workers suffer stomach age. There is no medicine in the dispensary except for plaster and balm oil. The nurse is also not present in the evening,” said a female worker.
Workers said that the factory force them to lie that they work on their consents if the Labour officers visit the factory.
Workers said that U&G (Myanmar) Fashion Co.,Ltd is located at Watayar Industrial Zone and the factory is co-owned by Chinese-Japanese. The factory is manufacturing BAYFLOW, LIMONT, Niko and.., GLOBAL WORK, ALLIED FEATHER DOWN and STUDIO CLIP with more than 100 workers. There is no trade union ut a WCC is appointed.
