By Hsu Latt Phyu - Sep 27, 2024
Workers from Ten Da Garment factory said that they are being dismissed illegally, asked for excessive fabric outputs, taken photo of female workers without permission.
The factory locates at Watmasut Wunhtauk Street, Industrial Zone 4, Eastern Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon region and operating with more than 500 workers.
The factory which is owned by a Chinese national is manufacturing LCW VISION, SANIA CATALINA, MO WOMAN, Defacto, CLOSSHI, mwr and RESERVED brands apparals and there is no trade union in the labour rights violating factory.
“Items and machines are kept at the dinning room. There is also no enough chairs so we are having difficulties for dinning. There are 13 restrooms but only 2 are assessable and both of them can’t lock. The door only covers the face and the lower part is visible. It is very uncomfortable for female workers,” a woman worker said.
Workers are asking resolvent from the employer regarding to the fact that the Chinese national technicians taking photos of young and pretty female workers without permission as well as those who are not comfortable with them and intimidating them that they will be blacklisted from applying to other factories.
The working hours are from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm excluding dinning hours and from 8:30 pm as overtimes and workers have to work until 6:30 on Saturday which actually has to be half day only.
Workers get paid 4,800 kyats daily wages, 2,000 kyats daily subsidy, 30,000 kyats for B level, 20,000 kyats for C level and 10,000 kyats for D level as expert fees and 10,000 kyats attendance bonus.
“We are cut attendance bonus and expert fees for arriving to work 5 minutes late. The attendance bonus is also cut for taking 2 days of legal leaves. 1 month expert fee is cut for taking gate pass. We lost so much for a day of absent in the whole month,” said a worker from the workplace.
The workplace are being managed directly by Chinese national technicians and workers are assigned to departments and lines in need instead of their native department only. Those who don’t work at assigned place have to sign warning and commitment papers.
A production line with 25 to 30 workers are asked for 50 to 80 garment outputs per hour and the supervisors are verbally abusing the workers for not finishing the demands.
“Supervisors and leaders curse us rudely in the production lines,” a worker stated.
The employer calls for mid-night and all-night overtime on the grounds of important orders and those overtime are forced mandatorily.
“There are day laborers in the factory. Day laborers who have less than 6 months of length of service are dismissed with a notice if they don’t work the overtime. Those who complaint are also pressurized and dismissed,” said a male worker.
Workers with less than 3 months service are dismissed without valid reason if they don’t work overtime and go back home with gate pass. Those who have more than 3 months of service are not allowed to take overtime. Workers who reported to the labour offices regarding the overtime are discriminated by the employer by not giving overtime hours in the following months and pressurized to resign.
“There is a suggestion letter box in the factory but no one read our letters. The employer said that the box is kept as cosmetic to be in accordance with the law and there is no time to read our letters. The factory has been opened for more than 2 years and there is no workplace coordination committee in a factory with 500 workers,” said a worker.
Workers are asking for the following terms and conditions regarding to workplace violations and their demands are –
1. To survey the workers consents for mid-night and all-night overtimes
2. The supervisors to not verbally abuse the workers
3. To provide sufficient dinning place and chairs
4. To not allow the foreigner technicians to manage the workplace directly
5. To not asked for excessive fabric outputs
6. To provide maintenance for the toilets.
7. To resolve the fact that Chinese nationals taking photos of female workers without permission
8. To not dismiss the workers with less than 6 months of service for not working overtime
