By Min Ni Kyaw - Jul 09, 2025

#Letter

I wanted to speak up about Lakkhwar 1 garment factory.

Please help us. I want to explain about the serious discrimination happening in the factory. The managers and those in charge only give a gate pass, it to those they want to, and refuse to give it to others even if it is urgent.

They set rules that workers are not allowed to wear flowers or apply Thanakha. But the managers, supervisors, and team leaders break their own rules.

We don’t know if these rules are based on job position or rank. Workers are also not allowed to borrow or lend money, or sell goods inside the factory — that’s a rule.

But the factory manager personally lends out money at interest. They runs their own business inside the factory, making us sell their goods during working hours, which have nothing to do with factory work. Finishing our own work is one thing for us, and selling goods for him is another — it's exhausting.

We tried to sell a little snack as our salaries are not enough, but all our goods are confiscated. Rules should be applied equally and followed by all.

Our overtime wages are cut if we are late for various reasons. They deduct 7,500 kyats if a worker leaves at the 4:30 PM. We’re left with nothing after a full day of work.

They don’t let us sign or acknowledge anything when salaries are paid. Salary slips only mention who got what. Those who absent just for a day are dismissed without leave. Dismissal should only happen after three days of absence as far as we know.

The factory has a Workplace Coordination Committee - WCC. But even the WCC members themselves don’t dare report these factory issues to the manager. We don’t know who we can speak to about the problems we are facing. The discrimination is very severe.

There are over 1,000 workers in the factory. It is owned by a Myanmar citizens but run by Chinese citizens . The garments are made for export.

Please help us. We are humbly requesting your support.