By Min Ni Kyaw - Dec 17, 2023
Bagu-based Myanmar BAGO NTMODE Garment Co., Ltd factory employs many child laborers and violates the law by not signing an EC contract on the employment of other workers, the factory workers said.
"Currently, there are around 600 factory workers. Around 100 are day laborers. Most of them are child workers. Most of them works in machine lines. Some have been working around for years. Some seven or eight months. All are young children. They are not appointed as permeant. They are just hired as day laborers for the day," the factory workers said.
Those underage child laborers have to work on par with other workers and receive 4,800 kyats per day and 1,200 for overtime.
One of the day laborers said that they do not get the professional fee, attendance bonus and the subsidy issued by the ministry, but only get their wages on the 5th day after the end of the month. In addition, all workers, including day laborers working at the factory, are not entitled to benefits.
“Day workers are not allowed to come to work if there is inspection the factory. No wages for those days too. Factory workers don't know about casual leave. Because the factory does not allow it. They only know about medical leave. They have to sign warning for taking 2 days continuously. There is no service leave and also no money equivalent for that. A worker with much cancelled fabrics cut from overtime wages. The factory do not give and its like compensation,” they said.
The Myanmar BAGO NTMODE Garment Co., Ltd factory did not inform the workers of the overtime and did not arrange a transportation vehicle in advance, violating the EC contract, the workers said.
One of the workers said that there is discrimination among the factory workers as the bonus is given only to the sewing workers in the factory and not to other departments.
"We have to work two hours overtime every day. There is no advance notice and signing. There are only two ferries to Thanat Pin. The workers from Bagu have to come with their own plans. We only got more than 200,000 kyats for working the whole month. We can’t save anything for food. The bonus fee is entitled to only one machine line. The rest of the departments are not. Although if the factory is the same, the income is different. This is the only factory that have these issues in Bago. Even if other factories pay 15,000 for attendance bonus, this factory only pays 12,000.” said a worker.
Pregnant workers are also forced the same with other workers without being asked to work light tasks separately workers say that the supervisors in the factory swear rudely, and the working conditions are also bad.
“Factory toilets are also unsafe. It's very low and not convenient. For drinking water, there is only one cup in one place. The clinic is a small room and it is always closed. We had to buy medicine from outside. Swearing by supervisors is enormous. I don’t know how the victims would feel but even the passive witnessers are embarrassed. We don't even know what the WCC is. We are going to be got layoff if we report, there was a case a worker got fired because she told the truth to the inspectors," one worker said.
The workers said that the factory's clinic is always closed without medicine and is only pretended to be opened when there are inspectors, and as the WCC team is just a show off, they are unable to complain about labor rights violations.
Myanmar BAGO NTMODE Garment Co., Ltd factory is owned by a Chinese national and operating in Mar Ga Street, Bo Kone 18 Ward, Hinthar Kone, Thanat Pin Road, Bago.
