By Min Ni Kyaw - May 15, 2025
Workers at Dishang Fashion Myanmar say the factory is cutting daily wage workers’ wages and dismissing them under pressure. Around 100 daily workers reportedly receive only basic daily pay and overtime rates, without other legal entitlements.
“There are a lot of daily wage workers at the factory. We get 10,000 kyats daily wage and 2,100 kyats per hour for overtime. That’s all we receive. We don’t get any other benefits. We also lose our jobs if we take a day off, not only do we not get paid. We don’t get paid on our first working day either — they deduct it as attendance security deposit. We only get 5,000 kyats for half a day on days when brand auditors come and the factory lets us go home early,” a daily worker said.
The daily wage workers added that the factory doesn’t arrange return transport, and they have to spend about 4,000 kyats on their own for travel when sent home due to brand auditor visits. Daily workers work Monday to Saturday and are usually paid daily, though sometimes wages for two or three days are combined and paid later. However, workers say the factory intentionally avoids converting daily workers into permanent staff in violation of labor laws.
“They fire the daily wage workers after two weeks. Then we have to reapply with a copy of our ID and new documents to get rehired. The nurse and office clerks prioritize people they know. The rest of us are treated harshly and spoken to with contempt,” the worker said.
They also reported that it could lead to dismissals, if brand representatives find out that daily wage workers are operating machines, and a translator named Yee Yee allegedly instructs supervisors to act accordingly.
Workers also reported that the male HR manager uses instructions from the office as an excuse to dismiss pregnant workers. Those who don’t resign are monitored by Workplace Coordination Committee (WCC) members, who photograph them secretly and send the images to the office, resulting in dismissals for “violating EC contract rules,” one worker explained.
“When pregnant workers are dismissed, the HR manager calls them in and says, ‘I’m just doing what the main office told me. You should resign.’ The WCC monitors them if they refuse to resign. They take pictures and send them to the office, then the factory says the worker violated the EC contract and fires them,” a worker said.
Dishang Fashion Myanmar reportedly fired former members of the workers’ union in March. In recent days, a COC staff member was also fired for allegedly violating EC contract rules, according to workers.
Dishang Fashion Myanmar Co., Ltd. employs around 1,000 workers, including daily workers. The factory is located on Min Gyi Maha Min Kaung Road in Shwe Than Lwin Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, and currently manufactures the Bestseller brand, according to Myanmar Labour News.
