"Fashion Brands Are Profiting From the Erosion of Workers' Rights in Myanmar | Opinion", 2nd February 2023

International fashion brands that began sourcing from Myanmar during the country's transition to democracy are now profiting from its descent into dictatorship...

"Factory owners are taking advantage of the bad politics," a Myanmar-based trade unionist told a local news source...

Nearly 60 percent of the violations [recorded by BHRRC] included allegations of reduced wages and wage theft— occurring amid an economic recession and cost-of-living crisis, with 40 percent of the population living below the national poverty line. We also recorded frequent allegations of inhumane work rates and mandatory overtime (41 percent of cases) and harassment, intimidation and abuse (34 percent). Thirty percent of the violations alleged gender-based violence: a damning finding in a sector overwhelmingly staffed by women. Disturbingly, two reports alleged workers being killed when the military opened fire in response to protests...

... brands must undertake heightened human rights due diligence to guarantee decent work, fair wages, and essential dignities and freedoms. This requires direct engagement with workers and their representatives, facilitated by civil society rather than third party auditors, the limitations of which are well-documented and further demonstrated in Myanmar by reported cases of workers being coerced to conceal rights abuses from inspectors. Where this is not possible, brands must look to exit responsibly, as some labor organizations and unions have called on them to do.