By Hsu Latt Phyu - Jul 17, 2025
Workers from Lucky Fortune Co., Ltd. have sought help from the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), saying they are facing hardship due to being forced and threatened to work overtime, including being verbally abused in the workplace.
The workers stated they are made to work from 8:00 AM to between 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM, and they are subjected to harsh verbal abuse and humiliation if they refuse to do overtime.
“Right now, there are arrests happening due to the political situation, and it’s not safe. So, those who want to work overtime should be allowed to do so. But now, we are being pressured in such a way and they pressure to us in a way we can’t refuse, so we have to work overtime even if we don’t want to,” a worker said.
The factory is located in Saya U Htun Road, Shwepyithar Industrial Zone 4, Insein Township. It is owned by a Chinese citizen and employs around 1,000 workers and manufacture AC&CO brand pants and jackets.
“They say the garments are piling up and won’t let us go without working overtime until 8:30 or 9:30 PM. They threaten to cut our grade bonuses if we don’t work overtime. We’re being harshly scolded and treated with hostility,” another worker reported.
In one production line with over 40 workers, each person is expected to sew 40 good-quality garments per hour. If this target is not met, they are verbally threatened with not being paid for the garments, not receiving bonuses, and being told rudely to complain anywhere they like, workers said.
Workers also mentioned that the WCC committee, which is supposed to mediate and resolve workplace issues, was not elected by the workers but was instead selected and controlled by the employer, thus unable to function independently.
Workers added that they are not allowed casual leave, and not all are granted social security medical leave, resulting in losses.
Workers face a deduction of around 50,000 kyats from attendance bonus, subsidies, and daily wages if they take medical leave due to health issues and miss one day of work, they said.
The workers have requested the following points to be addressed through negotiation to resolve such workplace violations and create a better working environment:
Workers from Lucky Fortune Co., Ltd. stated that:
- Employers must allow workers to take their entitled casual and medical leave.
- Employers must allow workers to elect their own WCC representatives.
- Employers must stop demanding unrealistic garment production targets that workers cannot meet.
- Employers must stop pressuring workers into working overtime.
- Supervisors and superiors must stop verbally abusing workers when demanding production targets.
