By Yoon Sat - Feb 17, 2025

Myanmar workers at HONBO Factory (1), located in the industrial zone of Manxi, Yunnan Province, China, are reportedly not receiving their full wages as stated in their employment contracts.

“The job offer stated that the probationary period wage would be 1,500+200 yuan, and skilled workers would receive between 2,000 and 4,000 yuan. This was stamped and officially documented. However, we are still only receiving 1,700 yuan even though the factory has been operating for almost a year,” said a worker.

The factory operates with over 1,000 Myanmar workers across 32 production lines. Despite offering a probationary wage of 1,500 yuan for two months and skilled worker wages ranging from 1,800 to 4,000 yuan in the employment contracts, workers claim they are only being paid 1,500 yuan.

Working hours are from 7:40 AM to 6:40 PM, with overtime extending until 8:30 PM. Workers are required to stay until 10:30 PM if production targets are not met. They must work on rest days without pay if targets remain unmet throughout the week. Workers report that they do not receive their full wages even when working extra hours to fulfill targets.

“There are no wage increases—only cuts and deductions,” said another worker.

Each production line consists of 40 workers, with a daily target of 500 pieces. Workers must work overtime for free if this target is not met. They are pressured to produce an additional 50 pieces past 10:00 PM even when they meet the target. Despite this, wages remain at 1,500 yuan, with various deductions made under different pretexts.

HONBO Factory mainly manufactures garments for Chinese brands. Workers at the factory are urging the responsible brand representatives to acknowledge the labor rights violations and take immediate action to address the issue.