"Wonderful Apparel Garment Workers’ Rights Violated"

Workers at the Wounderful Apparel Co., Ltd. factory located at No. (-) Han Steepa Road, Myaung Ta Ka Industrial Zone, Mawbi Township, are facing violations of their labor rights and are being forced to work overtime.

The factory is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and workers are forced to work on all-nighters and all-nighters without prior notice.

Regarding leave benefits, workers are not entitled to any type of leave, and if they take 3 days off due to illness from social security, the employer will not give them more than 2 days of leave and will illegally fire them. The worker said that there are only about 200 workers left in the current work permit.

Workers who call to complain about taking a leave of absence are being discriminated against and are being harassed, with a total of 25,800 kyats deducted from their daily wage, 1,000 kyats in allowance, and 20,000 kyats in regular wages.

There is a clinic in the workplace, but there is no medicine; the factory manager only comes to the clinic and sits there, so the workers are not allowed to go to the clinic; workers are being asked for a standard of fabric; at points where two people should sew, they are asked to sew alone and pay the full standard of fabric; when asking for a standard, there are 19 workers including a supervisor on one line, and the entire line is asked to pay up to (90) standard of fabric per hour; the fabrics are hand-sewn, they are sewn with great care; they do not go to the restroom, and if they sew without drinking water, they are being pressured to sew only 40 pieces of fabric and are being asked to pay up to (90) pieces, which is why they are facing difficulties.

"If they don't [meet] the [targets] they have set and asked for, the supervisors and super[intendents] scold them every day ... If the fabric is not good, they scold [the workers] and the supervisors and managers ... oppress the workers in various ways," the worker said.

The factory employs more than (200) workers ... It is said that TROLLKIDS, OCHNIK, balapala, CUH, ENCUENTRO, and Japanese brands of jackets and shirts are sewn.

The factory workers request:

• [That supervisors] request the [target] that a worker can sew ...
• The employer should provide the workers with the holidays and medical leave they are entitled to;
• [Supervisors] not to curse or use abusive language towards workers, to have a doctor sitting in the clinic, and to have medicines available, and to inform workers in advance if the employer calls for overtime.