By Yoon Sat - Nov 07, 2024
Workers TS Garment (Tha Su) garment factory, located on Min Ayar Street in the Shwe Than Lwin Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon Region said that they are being forced to work excessive overtime that impacts their health. Approximately 700 workers are employed at this factory, and they claim that the excessive overtime hours are detrimental to their health.
The regular working hours at the factory are from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with a standard overtime period of two hours to 8:00 p.m. However, workers report that, in they often have to work from 8:00 a.m. until midnight, leading to long-term health issues.
Additionally, workers are called to work overtime even on Sundays, and they are demanded outputs that exceed their capacity. As a result, they have to continuously work extra hours, which is affecting their health. The pressure to meet these high output targets is also causing long-term health issues for the workers.
"Normally, we can handle two or three hours of overtime in a day. But now, they are making us work from 8 a.m. to midnight, and this over time is impacting our health. For those of us who live in dormitories, we struggle with meal arrangements when we return home late. By the time we get back at 1 a.m., nothing is available to buy, and it’s hard to find transportation," one worker explained.
Despite the presence of a dispensary, workers report that it lacks sufficient medication. They also state that medical leave is not granted when requested, and social welfare medical leave is often recorded as leave, resulting in losses for the workers.
" We can’t even request gate pass easily although we don’t want to take full day leave. They make it difficult to get gate passes and we are often denied. If we miss a day of work, we are scolded. The drinking water is also bad and we are drinking unclean water. The toilets are limited in number and lack proper sanitation. When we need to replace our employee ID cards, we have to pay 1,000 kyats to get a new one," one worker said.
It’s reported that workers have to undergo a two-week probationary period, during which they receive a daily wage of only 4,800 kyats. Furthermore, they are not paid for Sundays, which is also a source of financial loss for them.
The workers are calling for reduced overtime for their health, improvements to dispensary and drinking water quality, and legal leave entitlements. Their demands are:
- To not call overtime until midnight and to not intimidate those who don’t want to work.
- To provide sufficient medications and to hire a nurse.
- To provide drinking water with purified water bottles.
- To demand only realistic outputs and to take actions on those verbally abuse the workers according to the employment contract.
The factory owner is a Chinese national and the factory employs over 700 workers and manufacturing Mont.bell brand.
