By Hsu Latt Phyu - Jan 05, 2024
At the BEST CHOICE Myanmar Garment Factory, which was opened on Kan Thar Yar Road, Anawrahta industrial zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, workers said that they are having a hard time as the factory is taking back the OT fees paid on the substitute days instead of Saturday which was closed due to lack of orders.
According to the labor law, if the factory closes for reasons on the part of the factory, the day fee for that day must be paid at the minimum wage rate. In fact, in addition to not paying the day off allowance for the Saturday, the worker said that OT and daily wages were deducted from the 4 hours per Saturdays and total 16 hours in a month.
"Saturday is closed by them as there is no work. We don't accept the deduction of the OT fees from the sisters. Those are our wages that we claimed by sweats. And the drinking water is not pure. There is no water purifier, the toilets are not clean, but the dining room is okay," said the worker.
According to the current situation, garment workers do not have to work 4 days a month, losing daily wages for 4 days, and the 2 hours overtime for the rest of the days are also cut off, so they are working overtime almost for free.
The labor activist commented that the employer's decision to close the factory with own decision and cut the OT fees without giving workers compensation is a violation of the labor law.
“If it's true that the employer closes on Saturday of his own accord, he has to pay the employee the daily wages. If they cut the 4 hours of OT on other days which has to be done on Saturday but as it's closed, this shouldn't be happen. This can be said to be exploitation from the workers without their consents. In other words, if the worker works OT, he has to pay it. It is a violation of the law and exploitation if there is no mutual agreement," said a labor affairs observer.
The demands of fabric targets is much higher than what the workers can sew, and even if they take social security leave, they are faced with cuts in wages and there is also lack of clean drinking water, and lack of clean toilets in the workplace
They went on to say that there is no solution for labor rights violations like the above and it is difficult to file a complaint.
"I do want to report but I don't know whom to report to. I'm afraid I'll lose my job if I do. When the inspectors came, they sent 2 people per line. They told them to lie that there is no overtime, the drinking water was clean and the toilets were clean. The supers and the managers’ subordinates don't dare to tell the truth,” they said.
In the past year, the factory called overtime even on Sundays and have cases that they don’t pay for overtime. But for now, the weekends become off days with the grounds of low orders.
"We had to work free for Sundays too. They just stopped calling starting last month as there were no much tasks. They called back than and didn't pay the overtime fees. I don't know whom to report. When the inspectors would come to check up, they hold a meeting. They told us to say that we don’t work down on Sundays. They told us to lie on behave on long term job stability. We have to give 2 people per line. The WCC is not yet organized until the inspectors come. For the workers’ perspectives, we are afraid of losing our jobs if we tell the truth,” said the worker.
The workers said that they want the factory to demand only the possible targets, to give full overtime wages, not to deducted for Saturdays, to provide pure water and clean toilets and not to cut for taking social security wages.
It is also known that the factory is owned by a Chinese national and manufacturing 157.FUNK, Vaile Bleue brands with more than 300 workers.
