By Myo Thein - Nov 03, 2025
Workers at Sen Yu Clothings Myanmar Co., Ltd garment factory say they are staging demands in response to being forced to compensate working hours for Saturdays, which are official days off, without receiving overtime pay, along with other forms of workplace oppression.
“They say it’s because of fewer orders, so they close the factory every Saturday. Then they call us for extra overtime from Monday to Friday. And they don’t pay us overtime for the Saturdays they closed. That’s also part of our demand,” workers said.
The work stoppage began on the 28th, and although officials from the labour office held a meeting on the morning of October 30, workers say their demands have not yet been met.
“Yesterday, the ministry came to mediate. Not a single one has been fulfilled out of the 15 demands we made. They told us we could return to work today if we wanted our demands to be considered. But they didn’t promise to fulfill any. And they threatened to deduct wages for the strike days if we don’t return to work. The ministry that came to mediate showed no respect at all,” workers said.
According to the workers, over 1,000 employees are currently participating in the work stoppage, and they have informed the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM).
“The factory doesn’t pay sanitation workers equally. We, the women workers, are also demanding an end to exploitative workloads. Today marks the fourth day of our demands. The factory keeps saying orders are low, yet they raise the daily output targets. We can’t keep up. And the factory manager and supervisors terminate daily workers at will, without officially hiring them,” workers explained.
Sen Yu factory has reportedly seen collective worker demands at least two to three times per year, and in those instances, leading worker representatives were fired, involved workers were discriminated against, and various tactics were used to prevent union formation. Workers also report that the WCC (Workplace Coordinating Committee) was formed by the factory manager and supervisors at their own discretion.
“We no longer have a voice in the workplace. The factory exploits us, forces us to overwork, and unlawfully fires workers. This has become a regular occurrence,” workers said.
Workers expressed concern that they may be dismissed once the current demands are concluded, and called on the relevant authorities to resolve the issue urgently.
Workers say the labour office turned them away despite reporting past abuses.
“When dismissed workers went to the labor offices to file complaints, they were told not to come. They were told, ‘Doesn’t your factory have a WCC? Go to them and resolve it,’ and were chased off,” one worker said.
Sen Yu Clothings Myanmar Co., Ltd is a Chinese citizen-owned garment factory that produces for the brands WM BEST CRAET and Fit Tech. It is located in Bamaw Atwin Wun Road, Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaingtharyar Township, Yangon, and employs around 1,000 workers.
