By Min Ni Kyaw - May 31, 2025
#Letter
Our employer has come to negotiate with us after Myanmar Labour News report Everlao garment factory’s issue.
What we mainly need is for working hours to be officially recognized as 8 hours a day, and anything beyond that to be considered overtime. However, this issue of working hours has still not been resolved as of yesterday. We are continuing to request it.
The actual working time is 8 hours, but the factory requires us to work 10 hours a day. The factory side says it is because of tax purposes and claims this is already included in the contract. But there is no mention of a 10-hour workday in our contract.
We learned that Lao workers are given overtime pay after 5 PM (after the standard 8-hour shift). But only us Myanmar workers are made to work 10 hours a day. Lao workers agree to work make up days. In Laos, the legal working hours are 8 hours a day.
We found out clearly that the employer didn’t know about all the deductions and penalty payments being collected from workers. The employer also said he was unaware the factory previously demanded compensation of around 750,800 kyats for workers who returned due to health reasons. He addressed this publicly by a meeting.
Currently, workers who wants to return home due to health reasons, are required to pay USD 390 in compensation. It’s USD 720 if they return voluntarily.
The 390 USD is said to cover the factory’s recruitment and arrangement expenses, 300 goes to the Myanmar agency, and the remaining 30 is called tax.
They say make up work days are not mandatory but Sundays are optional.
Previously, we had to pay 100,000 Lao Kip in penalties if we refused to work on off days, but the employer now says he was unaware of this.
Before, we had to come to work even when sick. We still had to show up as we feared penalties and even if we were unable to work on rest days.
This month, they are giving us Sunday off. That’s the only official rest day we’ve had for this whole month. It turns out many of the things happening here were completely unknown to him after the employer’s explanation. The employer is Indian. The supervisors and assistant supervisors are Myanmar nationals.
During the employer’s negotiation sessions, supervisors and assistant supervisors display behavior intended to prevent workers from openly negotiating.
The interpreter is not allowed into the room during these meetings. The word “suppression” mentioned in the news has upset the supervisors. They hold grudges more on workers who negotiated with the employer. Only workers who can’t speak critically are selected for negotiation. They’re blocked by the supervisors and assistant supervisors if anyone asks too many questions. Sundays are officially designated as rest days.
Unlike Myanmar, Laos doesn’t have long public holidays. During the employer’s recent negotiation, it was said that overtime is voluntary, and leave can be taken for health reasons. They said we will receive USD 127 at the end of the year if we don’t use our 15 days of annual leave.
We can now request leave through HR if we’re sick and don’t want salary deductions for missing work. The employer said he will investigate where the previously collected penalties have gone, since he didn’t receive any of that money.
Now, all department heads are Chinese. Things became unsettled after the employer found out about these deductions. Still, we workers remained calm during negotiations and continued working. We are not staging protests.
We were hired by the employer of the factory in Laos directly with zero cost. Let me tell you about Myanmar Agencies – Our Myanmar agency is Ar Htan.
Each person had different expenses among the workers sent by the Myanmar agency. We still have to pay compensation no matter when we return. We don’t clearly understand this. We workers are caught in the middle between the Myanmar agency and the factory.
The Myanmar agency takes excessive cuts as a middleman. The agency still demands money even though the factory owner covers the expenses. It’s 500,000 kyats per person after passing the interview if we go directly through the agency. Its 600,000 kyats per person for those who go through a representative.
It’s 1,000,000 kyats if recruited through a broker under a representative. We had to pay 1,400,000 kyats since we were handled by a broker. We had to pay an extra USD 100 when the departure date was confirmed after passing the interview.
The agency is supposed to give us a copy of the contract, but they didn’t. The agency kept it. Ar Htan agency combined three sets of contracts into one, so there are overlapping papers. When we arrived in Laos, we were made to sign a new contract. They said this contract includes a 10-hour workday. But we couldn’t find that 10-hour clause in the contract.
The agency told us that no matter what, they’re not allowed to deduct wages. But our wages were deducted on days when there’s a power outage in Laos and work shifts end early When we asked why, they said they deducted it because it was a rescheduled day. They said they’d pay it back the next month but only if we work make up days when workers didn’t accept that.
Whatever the reason, we have to make it up the next day if we don’t complete the 10-hour day. Many workers want to return. But we still have family to support. We came to Laos with loans, so we feel we have no choice but to keep working.
We still had to pay a lot to the agency although the factory owner brought us on a zero-cost (0 call). It’s not easy to pay the compensation required to return.
Unable to bear the pressure at the factory, two Myanmar workers at Alpilao cap factory fled to Thailand without even collecting their passports. There are 12 sewing lines – 6 for Lao workers and 6 for Myanmar workers at Everlao factory. There are over 200 Myanmar workers.
What we mainly need is to recognize the 8-hour workday and for any time beyond that to be paid as overtime. The agency doesn’t show up for now. Negotiations with the employer have also not resulted in reducing the 10-hour schedule.
We want responsible authorities to mediate effectively. We are suffering a lot with a 3-year contract.
Thanks to Myanmar Labour News. We will continue to raise our demands.
