By Min Ni Kyaw - Oct 31, 2024
Mai Yi Bei Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd., from Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, does not pay the daily wages of holiday for workers who returned one day late from their Thadingyut holiday leave.
Workers explained, “We went back to our villages for the holiday and returned a day late. They’re saying they won’t pay us the holiday allowance because of that. Daily wages for five days covers a lot of our living expenses.”
The standard daily wage, including subsidies, is 7,800 MMK, with an hourly overtime rate of 1,500 MMK. This Chinese-owned factory, located in Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon, employs over 1,200 workers and manufactures clothing for brands like ORIGINAL MARINES and ALCOTT.
According to workers, the factory does not provide the legal leaves and asks for 40 garments per hour. Supervisors pressure workers to meet the output by verbally abusing them, and workers are called mid-night and all-night overtimes and forced to work on Sunday without getting paid if the demands are not met
It is also reported that many underage workers are employed in the factory without medical certificates and are made to work alongside adult workers. When labor inspection teams or brand representatives visit the factory, the factory orders the young workers to hide.
One worker added, “The factory’s transportation bus is overcrowded and uncomfortable, yet they do nothing about it. We’re fined 1,000 MMK if the system does not read our card. The worst part is that the toilets are filthy and the doors are broken, so there’s no privacy.”
Furthermore, workers mentioned that if they leave the job due to poor working conditions at Mai Yi Bei Garment, they only receive a clearance payment of 5,800 MMK per day instead of the full severance pay.
