By Hsu Latt Phyu - Oct 01, 2025
#Letter
We are workers from Sky Fashion Myanmar Co., Ltd., a garment factory located on Mya Sabal 1 Street, Mya Sein Yaung Industrial Zone, Yangon Region.
The factory employs over 800 workers and is owned by Chinese citizen. It manufactures garments for the Alvaro Moreno brand.
Labour inspections were conducted at our workplace due to reports of labour rights violations shared on social media. On the inspection day, no overtime was required, but regular overtime resumed the following day. Even when we feel unwell or unable to work extra hours, we are still pressured and forced to do overtime.
We are required to write answers on paper to the questions asked by the inspection teams during inspection visits. The line managers have warned us that we would be fired if they find out any of us wrote the full truth. None of us dares to respond honestly because of this.
Even though there is a WCC (Workplace Coordination Committee) at the factory, it is ineffective in addressing our concerns. The WCC is composed of individuals selected by the employer, mostly department heads, and not genuine worker representatives. Therefore, we cannot rely on it for support, and we have no voice in the workplace.
We are also denied our basic entitlements such as casual leave and medical leave. Even when we submit official medical leave documents issued by Social Security, the employer still denies us leave and instead deducts 10,000 MMK daily wage + subsidy and 25,000 MMK from our attendance bonus. We lose 50,000 MMK if we are absent for two days in a month, causing financial hardship.
Although there is a clinic in the workplace, it is often out of medicine. We are told there is nothing available not even paracetamol when we ask for medicine for stomach aches or body pain. Rhere is simply nothing provided even if we want to take medicine and continue working.
There is no consideration or leniency for illness or emergencies. The supervisors refuse to provide a gate pass when we ask for it due to an urgent situation. the supervisors withhold the gate pass even if the office approves it, and we cannot leave. They have clearly said no gate passes will be given under any circumstance on Mondays and Saturdays, regardless of how urgent it is.
We are being made to work illegal overtime, including midnight and overnight shifts. Management says we must work because there are too many orders, and as a result, we have no choice. This is causing us real harm.
Therefore, we respectfully request assistance from the Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) regarding the following matters:
Our Demands as Workers:
- That the employer grants our entitled casual leave and medical leave.
- That the employer provides gate passes easily when workers face emergencies.
- That the employer stops coercing us to work all-day and overnight overtime.
- That line managers stop threatening to fire workers who tell the truth during labour inspections.
- That the employer ensures basic medicines are available in the workplace clinic.
Assistance seekers,
Sky Fashion Myanmar Co., Ltd workers.
