"Myanmar QI Yuan Garment discriminates against male workers", 29 October 2024

The Myanmar QI Yuan Garment factory says male workers are forced to work in a low-wage job and are not hired as wage laborers. Male workers in the factory are also forced to work in standing positions in addition to sewing.

“Both the supervisors and line supervisors do not differentiate between men and women. They shout at them and talk to them, and since they are men, they are told off in front of the girls. They are ashamed. That is why they leave work...,” said a female worker.

Although the wages and other benefits are the same, the minimum wage for male workers is set at the lowest level...in addition, the factory does not pay the annual salary because they are not regular workers.

“The male workers do not get more than a grade C. Even then, they rarely get it...They do not [receive] the annual salary because they are daily wage earners. But they deduct the social security benefits,” said a female worker.

Although the social security benefits are deducted monthly, they are losing their benefits because they do not issue or process cards. She also said that she had to work overnight (until 12 midnight) every other day at Myanmar QI Yuan Garment from last June to the end of September.

“After working overnight, I cannot go home. I sleep in the factory, use red water. I have to take a shower. I am also given two small soaps to use in the toilet. The workers have to buy soap and use it. There is no clinic.,,,“The workers on the line have to save money to buy the medicine they need,” said a female worker.

The workers said that they were only given 1,000 kyats for meals on the day they had to work overtime, which was not enough, so they asked for an increase in September. The increase was 2,000 kyats, and now they are no longer being asked to work overtime in October.

“There is no more overtime. But since last week, they have been working until 7 pm again. They are cutting one hour of that as a day off. They say the days off are November 1, 2, and 3. They do this even during the weekend,” said a worker.

The [workers] said that they were fined 500 kyats per piece of fabric for wasting fabric. The workers said that they did not know where the fine was used, and that they were forced to pay 50,000 kyats per day for gate passes. All the wages and salaries were cut. If you get a gate pass after 2 pm, you get [a] 50 percent [cut], and after 4 pm, you get all the money [cut from your wages]...They have made it difficult to get another gate pass,” said a worker at Myanmar QI Yuan Garment CO.LTD.

The workers also said that underage female and male workers in the factory are forced to work day labor and work continuously until the end of the overtime.

“Not to mention the time off, we can’t even [go to the] toilet. Even if we...need a piece of clothing, the supervisors come and yell at us. If we say anything back, they treat us with disdain. We don’t get a break at night either. After we get off at 7:30 pm, we have to sew continuously until we have to work overtime.”

A worker said that since most of the fans in the factory are not working, they are suffering from heatstroke, and that materials are piled up in the emergency corridor so that they can’t be used.

Myanmar QI Yuan Garment CO.LTD (Factory 2)...operates on Than Che Wan U Nyunt Road, Industrial Zone 1, Hlaing Tharyar Eastern Township, Yangon with about 600 workers, according to workers. Factory 1 is located on Pan Hlaing Golf Course Road, Nyaung Ward, Industrial Zone 1.

[Translation via Google Translate]