By Thar Gyi - Jun 17, 2025

Workers from Rong Da garment factory in Watharyar Industrial Zone, say their demand for wage increases is still under negotiation. The request for a pay raise reportedly began at around 9 a.m. on June 13.

“The factory owner only arrived around 3 p.m. They held a meeting with line leaders, supervisors, managers, and the factory manager. After that, they called in three worker representatives from among the protesting workers to negotiate. That’s all we know for now. The workers were released around 4:30 p.m.,” a worker said.

Workers are calling for the current daily wages of 8,800 kyats, overtime pay of 2,000 kyats per hour, and the attendance bonus of 20,000 kyats to be raised to 13,000 kyats for daily wages, 2,500 kyats per hour for overtime, and a proportional increase in the attendance bonus.

One worker explained the background of the demands as follows:

“Since other factories have already increased wages, we asked them to raise ours too. The factory said they would raise and negotiate, but didn’t. That’s why we had to protest. None of this would have happened if they had increased our wages fairly.”

Rong Da garment factory has over 2,000 workers, and nearly all of them joined the protest to demand wage increases.

RONG DA Garment is a foreign-invested factory owned by Chinese national, according to Myanmar Labour News. It is located on Min Bandu Phaya Road, Watayar Industrial Zone, Shwepyithar Township, Yangon, and employs more than 2,000 workers, according to the workers.