Myanmar: Garment workers face injury or death in road accidents after overtime shifts
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Oct 2024
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Eternal Fashion - Supplier , Zhejiang Semir Garment - Buyer , TOREAD - Buyer , Intersport - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: 10000
Workers: ( 10000 - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Occupational Health & Safety , Wage Theft , Freedom of Association , Denial of leave , Mandatory overtime , DismissalResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Eternal Fashion allegedly supplies to Intersport, Semir Garment and Toread to respond; None of the brands provided a response to a request for comment from the Resource Centre.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Oct 2024
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Eternal Fashion - Supplier , Zhejiang Semir Garment - Buyer , Intersport - Buyer , TOREAD - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: 45
Workers: ( 45 - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Occupational Health & Safety , Injuries , Denial of leaveResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Eternal Fashion allegedly supplies to Intersport, Semir Garment and Toread to respond; None of the brands provided a response to a request for comment from the Resource Centre.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Oct 2024
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Eternal Fashion - Supplier , Intersport - Buyer , Zhejiang Semir Garment - Buyer , TOREAD - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: 1
Workers: ( 1 - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Occupational Health & Safety , Mandatory overtimeResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Eternal Fashion allegedly supplies to Intersport, Semir Garment and Toread to respond; None of the brands provided a response to a request for comment from the Resource Centre.
Source type: News outlet
"ETERNAL FASHION Garment Factory Violates Labor Rights and Operates Irresponsibly", 29 October 2024
ETERNAL FASHION CO,LTD Garment Factory, located at Plot No. (-), Anawrahta Central Road, Anawrahta Industrial Zone, Hlaing Tharyar Township, Yangon Region, is violating labor rights and operating irresponsibly, according to workers.
Although a workplace negotiation committee has been formed, it is only composed of people selected unilaterally by the employer.
The factory is said to be manufacturing Japanese brands such as balabala, SEMIR...
The factory...is operating with around 10,000 workers.
All workers have different starting and finishing times, and all workers in the factory have to work 3 hours of overtime every day...
On Monday, October 21, while coming to work, a factory ferry collided with another car at the exit of the Hlaing Tharyar Yogyi bus stop. There were 45 workers on board, and the car's head was crushed. The driver was rushed to the hospital. Among the workers, one had to have an abdominal operation, one had a broken arm, and one had a broken cheekbone and face, and others were injured.
On October 22, after working overtime until dawn and being picked up by a shuttle bus at 5 a.m., a worker was hit by a taxi while crossing the road to return home. He was taken to the hospital with a concussion.
"I want to say that workers are often injured and even killed because of overtime work. The employer is monitoring the workers who were in the first car accident and the workers who were forced to work overtime at Insein Hospital. However, they are saying that they will not give leave to workers who were not inpatients and who were injured in the car accident...The main thing is that in addition to meeting the standards set by the workplace, workers are also being called to work excessively early in the morning, and they are not even allowed to sleep, and they are not allowed to take weekends off. When news of excessive overtime work comes out, the relevant authorities do not investigate and take action. The consequences of excessive overtime work are as you can see," said a worker working in the workplace...
The factory said in the meeting that workers who did not return home during the weekend would be paid 15,000 kyats overtime and 10,000 kyats for food if they worked on the weekend. The workers who worked overtime on October 15, 16, 18, and 19 were exploited by being paid only 15,000 kyats overtime and not given 10,000 kyats for food.
Currently, the previously given technical bonus is being replaced with a one-time payment, but starting in October 2024, it will no longer be paid, and only when it reaches the standard can it be paid as much as it should be.
"Not only is this happening, but new workers are being interviewed and hired, and if there are many workers in the lines they don't like, they are cut off, and those who like super are given one line, and workers they don't like are sent to another line, and they are being pressured to quit with various reasons. New people are being hired and old people are being fired with various reasons. They are being laid off and hired," the worker said of the current working conditions...