Myanmar: Trade union leaders allegedly dismissed in factory ‘downsizing’ & blacklisted
Summary
Date Reported: 27 Feb 2023
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Amava Apparel - Supplier , Karrimor - Buyer , Frasers Group - Buyer , Blåkläder - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Freedom of AssociationResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Amava Apparel allegedly supplies to Blaklader and Frasers Group for its Karrimor brand; Blaklader provided a response to a request for comment from the Resource Centre. Frasers Group did not.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 27 Feb 2023
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Huabo Times - Supplier , Vero Moda (part of Bestseller) - Buyer , ONLY (part of Bestseller) - Buyer , Inditex - Buyer , Zara (part of Inditex) - Buyer , Bestseller - Buyer , Primark (part of Associated British Foods) - Former buyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Freedom of AssociationResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Huabo Times allegedly supplies to BESTSELLER (parent company of ONLY, VERO MODA), Inditex (parent company of ZARA) and Primark; all three companies provided responses to a request for comment from the Resource Centre. Primark stated it stopped sourcing from the factory in Oct 2021.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 27 Feb 2023
Location: Myanmar
Companies
Primark (part of Associated British Foods) - Former buyer , Myanmar Knitting Factory - Supplier , Marks & Spencer - Former buyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Clothing & textile , Gender not reported )Issues
Freedom of AssociationResponse
Response sought: Yes, by BHRRC
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Myanmar Knitting is allegedly supplying or has supplied to Primark and Marks & Spencer; both companies provided a response to a request from the Resource Centre. In October 2023, Primark informed the Resource Centre that its final handover of products from this factory was in August 2022, and Marks & Spencer informed the Resource Centre that its last orders from Myanmar took place in April 2023.
Source type: News outlet
"Labor union leaders find it difficult to find work", 27 February 2023
Since the military coup, trade union leaders in factory workplaces have been fired and the workforce has been reduced, so it is said that it is difficult for those who have been trade union leaders and members…to get jobs.
Some labor union leaders were fired at garment factories in Pathein. It is said that [they are] not called to work because…[they are] listed as a union leader…
"I was involved in the downsizing of workers. I went to other factories in Pathein Industrial Zone. I didn't get a job from any of the factories. I called the others and I was rejected…Finally, I went to the HuaboTime Garment Factory. I was rejected by one of the employ[ers]. I asked an employee and they said that they were blacklisted by the Amava Apparel Garment Factory," said a former employee of the Amava Apparel Garment Factory.
Similarly, union leaders from the Myanmar Knitting wool factory; Union leaders from HuaboTime garment factory[;] Trade Union Leaders at Amava Apparel Garment Factory…
It is said that there are threats to the trade union leaders in the workplace, saying that they will not be allowed to work in any factory.
Currently, there are about 12 garment and related factories in Irrawaddy, employing about 10,000 workers.
[Translation via Google Translate]