By Min Ni Kyaw - Mar 14, 2025
New Plus Factory unilaterally designated March 15 as a substitute holiday and required workers to work on that day without obtaining workers' consent, according to employees. Workers reported this decision to the factory's Workplace Coordination Committee (WCC), but no negotiations or adjustments were made.
"The factory manager never asked for the workers' opinions. They just decided to use March 15, a regular working day, as a substitute holiday. In reality, they should have consulted the workers. We informed WCC, but they said, 'What can we do? If the factory says it's a holiday, then it's a holiday.' They made no effort to negotiate. Even the worker leaders simply went along with what the factory said. They saw that workers disagreed but didn’t speak up for us. They are afraid of facing consequences and losing favor with the factory. They don’t care whether the workers are okay with it or not," a factory worker stated.
Workers also reported that the factory failed to shut down power to the machines during breaks, forcing them to continue working without proper rest. No changes were made, and workers were still unable to take their designated break times despite labour officers visiting the factory to inspect the situation.
"It was not during break time when labour officials came to inspect. So, they only heard the factory saying that they provided full break time and that workers were not forced to work through it. But in reality, we wanted them to check during actual break hours to see the truth. The factory can turn off the power during lunch breaks, but they don’t do it for rest breaks. We have to keep working since they don’t cut the power. We can’t rest even if we want to. They pressure us, saying they need to meet production targets. They could shut off power for the whole factory in the morning, but they don’t. As a result, some workers continue working. Only office staff and other departments get proper break time. Production line workers don’t get to rest. They should turn off the machines if they really want us to take breaks. Since they don’t, the supervisors force us to work. We have to work if they tell us to. And we get scolded if we take a break," a worker said.
New Plus garment factory is a Chinese-owned factory located at Thadukan Industrial Zone, Kyauk Sein Road (near Nwar Chan bus stop). The factory currently employs around 1,000 workers.
