By Yoon Sat - Jul 26, 2024

Workers from LITA MYANMAR garment factory which located at Sat Sayar U Htun Lin Street, Industrial Zone 4, Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon region said that they are being forced to sign agreement on forming workplace coordination committee which the representatives are chosen by the employer alone after the inspection took place in the factory.

The workers reported that they had to pay 2 percent of the social security fee every month, and the factory is cutting their wages without allowing their leaves even if the welfare clinic gave them permission when 5 inspectors from Shwe Pyi Thar Township Labor Office inspected the workplace and questioned 23 female workers after a media reported on the violation of workers' rights in the workplace on June 26. 

Due to the lack of a WCC (Labor Coordination Committee) in the workplace, the employer unilaterally selected three workers’ representatives and forced the workers to sign in support of those representatives.

"The WCC was made one-sided by the employer only because the inspectors told them to. Workers were forced to sign without being allowed to choose on their consents. We don’t even know who the 3 representatives were. Even the absent workers are signed by them. How can we believe the WCC" said the worker.

The workers said that the selection of the WCC was not organized properly because the workers' representatives must be chosen by the workers, but because the employers did it at their own discretion, the representatives appointed by the factory could not represent them. 

The workers said that although the department came to inspect the workplace, the violation of rights in the workplace has not been resolved, and the violation continues.

“The workplace feels like a prison. The Chinese employer took pictures of the workers and force the supervisors to scold the workers. The Chinese experts also drunk and mass up with the workers. Only workers from production lines get paid 30,000 kyats attendance bonus but not the others. There is no expert fees in the factory, so most workers get paid only basic wages and overtime fees. They also intimidate us that we have to sign warning for absent,” the worker said. 

In addition, workers are called overtime on Sundays and they had to come to work on their own paln as the factory doesn’t provide transportation.

The factory is owned by Chinese a national and manufacturing and BURTLE, TOYO HEARTGREEN brands apparels with more than 900 workers. These brands sub-orders from other factory and it is also learnt that there is no trade union.

As the employer committed more violations after the workplace was inspected by the relevant labor department the workers said that they want to request to

1. Give attendance bonus to every worker

2. Not to force the workers to sign agreement for the workers’ representatives selected by the employer alone

3. To allow legal, medical and casual leaves

4. To provide transportation for calling overtime on Sundays

5. The foreigner employer to not directly manage the workers