By Ma Ma - Nov 13, 2024
Workers from LITA MYANMAR Co., Ltd, a Chinese-owned factory, report that they are being denied their legally entitled leave and that police are being used to enforce unlawful dismissals.
The factory is located in at the Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zone (4), Shwe Pyi Thar Township and employs over 700 workers. It produces BURTLE, CONVERSE, Golden Bear, CYCLE ECO, and DUNLOP REFINED brands and engages in multiple labor rights violations.
“We can’t take casual leave or medical leave at all. The pay slip doesn’t even list medical leave or casual leave as options. Even if we bring a medical certificate from social security, the factory still doesn’t allow sick leave. If a worker misses just one day for health reasons, they suffer deductions. Sometimes, if we take just half a day off for family emergencies, we lose 5,000 kyats from our regular wage,” said one worker, who asked to remain anonymous.
The factory is also said to discriminate in its pay practices, giving only 4,800 kyats as daily wages plus a 1,000-kyat allowance to cleaning staff and helpers. However, the second 1,000-kyat allowance that should have been added is not being paid. When labor inspectors visited the factory, the General Manager pressured the cleaning supervisor to say that they were receiving full pay, making it difficult for workers to speak up about their grievances.
“They fired a cutting supervisor by claiming he was collecting money from workers, without providing any severance pay. When the factory couldn’t dismiss him, they brought in the police and forced them out by force. This supervisor had over 10 years of service in the factory. Now, they’re left without any compensation, and they’re using the police to intimidate workers and carry out dismissals for matters that don’t concern law enforcement. Even when going to the restroom or drinking water, we face verbal abuse from supervisors,” another worker shared.
In addition, workers report that security staff verbally abuse them at the entrance. If they put Thanaka (a traditional Burmese cosmetic) on, security guards take photos and report them to the office, where they are forced to signed warning. While the employment contract does not prohibit wearing Thanaka, the factory force the workers to sign warnings and dismiss without compensation.
Currently, LITA MYANMAR workers have reached out to the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) for help with these workplace violations.
Workers are demanding that they be granted their legally entitled leave, the additional 1,000-kyat allowance be paid to cleaning staff and helpers, security staff be instructed to stop verbally abusing workers, and the factory stop using police to intimidate and unlawfully dismiss workers.
