By Ma Ma - Nov 14, 2024
Workers from He MeT Company Limited factory said the factory employs over a thousand workers, but 70% of them are categorized as day laborers.
This factory, owned by a Chinese national and is located at near Twin Thin Tike Wun U Tun Nyo Street, Ahlal Village, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, The factory manufactures brands such as OUTDOOR, MAKE TODAY AMAZING, Pageone, and JEAN PASCALE.
“Workers who have not completed six months of employment are classified as day laborers. The factory has over a thousand workers, but only around 300 are confirmed as permanent employees. The remaining 700 are day laborers. Those who haven’t completed six months need to work from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Saturdays without receiving overtime pay. When audits from brands came, these 700 workers are hidden in graages,” a factory worker stated.
In terms of output demands, each production line—comprising 57 workers, including machine operators, supervisors, leaders, and helpers—is required to meet output targets, such as sewing up to 50 jackets per person per hour.
For two-point stitching tasks, workers are required to sew up to 100 items per hour.
“If production targets are not met, supervisors verbally abuse the workers. The factory even employs child laborers aged 13, 14, and 15. These children are forced to work in roles such as helpers, loaders, and even sewing machine operators. They are demanded the same output as adult workers but are paid significantly less. The wages for underage laborers are unfairly reduced,” another worker reported.
When urgent orders come in, daily wage workers are sometimes not called in to work, resulting in wage cuts. Furthermore, the lack of official confirmation as permanent employees causes additional financial and legal disadvantages for the workers.
“One female worker was slapped for being accused of supernatural affairs. She didn’t dare report it at home. If workers are injured on the job, the factory does not take responsibility. Up to 65 workers are crammed into a single 14-foot ferry truck for transportation, which often arrives late. Workers are also denied legal and emergency leave is refused. Missing a day results in fines, including a deduction of 5,800 MMK daily wage plus 1,000 MMK each from subsidy and attendance bonus. Workers are fined differently, depending on grade: Grade A loses 6,000 MMK, Grade B loses 5,000 MMK, and Grade C loses 4,000 MMK. No medical care is provided, and the toilets are in unsanitary conditions. Moreover, a supervisor from Line 11 reportedly deducted 800,000 MMK from workers' performance bonuses, claiming only 300,000 MMK could be paid to 57 workers,” the worker added.
The factory workers have reported these issues to the Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) for assistance.
The workers are demanding several changes, including fair treatment of young and adolescent workers, provision of legal leave entitlements, appointment of workers as permanent employees after three months, backdate payment of overtime wages for working up to 12 hours nightly for two consecutive months, resolution of inadequate transportation services and reimbursement of the remaining 500,000 MMK of performance bonuses that were deducted by the Line 11 supervisor.
