By Min Ni Kyaw - Jul 13, 2025

#Letter

Overtime is being assigned arbitrarily, and workers are being made to work overtime (OT) without receiving proper pay at Myanmar Dongxin Garment Factory.

This constitutes exploitation or even theft of labour resources.

We are being forced to work until 8 PM without OT pay. Management claims it is for performance bonuses, but in reality, the majority of bonuses go to supervisors. Sewing line workers only get the leftovers of those bonuses.

While it’s true that workers could earn better wages through high garment output, being made to work overtime without pay is a serious loss for them.

If supervisors get bonuses of 20,000 kyats for a full day’s garment output, sewing workers typically receive only about 2,000 kyats.

Due to this, supervisors force workers to meet targets and daily output by calling them for excessive overtime shifts.

Workers who cannot or do not want to work overtime are yelled at and verbally abused. It’s so bad that Supervisors shout from dawn and they also say we have to work overtime no matter there is transportation or not.

Additionally, no gate passes are issued on Mondays and Saturdays. Supervisors from lines 1, 2, and 3 force workers to do overtime just to meet their own bonus quotas and output levels.

This labour exploitation is effectively carried out by the supervisors on behalf of the factory owners. The factory’s restrooms and toilets are unhygienic. The stench is so bad it spreads into the sewing lines themselves.