"U&G Garment Factory Forced to Work Late Night on Saturdays", 29 August 2024

Workers at the U&G (Myanmar) Fashion Co.,Ltd garment factory in the Wada Industrial Zone say they are continuously forced to work late night overtime (OT). They have been working late night for almost two months, and on Saturdays, they are forced to work full-time...

They are forced to work overtime, and if they do not work, they are told off in public by their leaders and their salaries are cut...workers say they are still being asked to work overtime on Saturdays...

Workers at U&G Garment Factory are not allowed to go home after working late at night, but are forced to sleep inside the factory and work continuously the next day, according to a worker.

“After 11 p.m., they have to sleep on the factory floor...My parents are also worried,” said a worker.

In addition, pregnant workers are being forced to work at the same time, according to the need for labor. After lunch, they work continuously from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., and on days when they have to work overtime, the factory pays them a meal allowance.

“Pregnant women...have a lunch break from 11:30 to 12. From there, they don’t get a break until 6 pm. They also have to work overtime at night, from 6 pm to 7 pm every other week,” said a worker.

The factory also provides various types of leave, but they cut their pay and benefits. She said that some female workers in the factory are suffering from health problems because they have to work for 6 and a half hours at a time.

“They don’t get a break... If they have to eat, they have to eat without the supervisors knowing or seeing them. Because of this, there are workers with stomach aches. The factory clinic also has no medicine except for ointment and a bandage. There is no nurse at night.” said a female worker.

The workers also said that despite the fact that the overtime work was being investigated by the Department of Labor, the factory falsely asked them to say that they were working voluntarily.

U&G (Myanmar) Fashion Co.,Ltd is located in the Wada Industrial Zone...More than 100 workers are sewing [for brands] such as BAYFLOW, LIMONT, Niko and.., GLOBAL WORK, ALLIED FEATHER DOWN, STUDIO CLIP, and it is known that there is no labor union in the factory, but the WCC group has been formed.

[Translation via Google Translate]