By Hsu Latt Phyu - Jan 16, 2025
Workers from Yunnan Jīng Yào Garment Company Limited, said that they are being forced to work overtime without receiving pay. Additionally, they said they are being intimidated with blacklisting—where their names would be shared with other factory owners to prevent them from finding employment elsewhere—if they file complaints about workplace violations, according to reports from workers.
The factory is located in the Mangshi City, Fatai Industrial Zone, in Yunnan Province, China, and operates with a workforce of over 300 employees. The factory manufacture Banana branded apparals and have reported cases of forced labor and workplace exploitation.
“The working hours are from 8 AM to 6:45 PM. That’s already a 10-hour workday even without overtime. The base salary is set at 1,800 yuan, and the overtime rate is 3 yuan per hour. Workers also receive an attendance bonus of 200 yuan, but no skill bonus is provided. We are paid based on piece rates for completed garments. Overtime shifts usually run from 7 PM to 9:30 PM, and they force us to work until 11:30 PM if work is urgent. This happens daily, and supervisors even come to the dormitories to force them to work for those who refuse. They deduct our attendance bonus if we refuse overtime. They deduct it even if we don’t work overtime on Sundays,. Despite all this, they still don’t pay us overtime wages,” a factory worker shared.
Currently, despite workers being forced to work without proper compensation, those who attempt to file complaints are blacklisted, making it impossible for them to find jobs in other factories within the Ruili Industrial Zone.
“They make us work on a percentage-rate basis and impose unachievable production targets. On top of that, we never actually receive the promised piece-rate pay. When workers try to speak up about these issues, they face threats and intimidation,” another worker said.
Workers at the factory are now calling for immediate action to address these workplace violations. Since the military coup in Myanmar, a significant number of people have migrated to China to work in garment factories. However, they are now facing increasing cases of workplace exploitation and rights violations.
