Myanmar: Garment workers report underpaid wages to day labourers & violation of COVID-19 regulations
Summary
Date Reported: 1 Sep 2022
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Zara (part of Inditex) - Buyer , Bestseller - Buyer , Primark (part of Associated British Foods) - Former buyer , Zong Hong - Supplier , LPP Spółka Akcyjna - Buyer , New Yorker - Buyer , ONLY (part of Bestseller) - Buyer , Inditex - Buyer , Sinsay (part of LPP S.A.) - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: 1700
Workers: ( 1700 - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Covid-19 , Personal Health , Denial of permanent contracts , Wage Theft , Occupational Health & SafetyResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Zong Hong (Myanmar) Garment allegedly supplies to Inditex for its Zara brand, Primark, New Yorker for its FBSister brand, BESTSELLER for its ONLY brand and LPP S.A for its Sinsay brand. Inditex, BESTSELLER, Primark and LPP S.A. provided a response to a request for comment from the Resource Centre. Primark stated it ceased business with the factory in June 2022. New Yorker did not respond.
Source type: News outlet
" A day laborer in a factory that sews international brands earns only 4,000 kyats for a 10-hour day", 1 September 2022
The Zong Hong Myanmar Garment Factory, which was opened on Mya Khatta Road in Hlaing Thayar Mya Khatta Road, where international brands such as ZARA and PRIMARK are made, is operating with more than 1,700 workers, and the workers said that there is no solution to labor rights violations.
The factory employs day laborers and their working hours are set from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and they are only paid at the rate of 4,000 hours per day (10).
According to the labor law, an employee must work for 8 hours and must be paid the minimum wage for those 8 hours. If the working hours exceed 8 hours, the rest of the hours will be set as overtime and overtime must be paid.
As the business leader of the factory, he signed a mutual agreement with the day laborer.
There are records of the workers in the factory complaining of non-compliance with the Covid regulations in the factory, not having enough ferr[ies] [to transport workers] and labor rights violations, but the violations are still ongoing, he said.
Currently, the minimum wage in Myanmar is set at 4,800 kyats, but employers do not pay more than that, and some workers are only paying a low amount of 4,800 kyats, saying that [it is] due to the economic downturn [since] the outbreak of Covid-19 to the current coup…
In addition, [they are] reducing permanent staff appointments in factory workplaces…
In Myanmar, where there is a general crisis, day laborers, the basic class, are worried about losing their jobs, and the workers say that they are forced to work in workplaces where there is no guarantee [of a job] due to the food crisis.
[Translation via Google Translate]