Mawlamyine, March (22)
Under the military regime, garment factories breached labor laws by refusing to allow workers to take vacation time and by not paying their employees full salaries, said, Federation of General Workers of Myanmar (FGWM).
According to FGWM surveys, in 2022, 124 garment factories did not allow workers to take leave, and if the workers took leave, the employers cut wages, denied workers rights, discriminated against them, and forced them to work overtime.
Of the 55 factories that forced workers to work overtime, 33 factories did not pay workers, and 28 other factories forced workers to work overtime by threatening them against their will.
Factory and manufacturers no longer comply with labor laws, taking advantage of the coup and exploiting workers for wages, said the secretary of FGWM.
In addition, workers with more than three months of service are not appointed as permanent employees and are not given legal benefits, wages are cut if they are absent from work, and their dining room is not kept clean.
In terms of percentage, the industries that violate labor rights the most are sports equipment manufacturing factories with 0.8 percent, service industries with 1.6 percent, industrial businesses with 4.1 percent, consumer goods industries with 2.4 percent, and garment industries with 78 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the workers complained about labor rights violations to the military council, but the authorities did not handle the problems, the workers said.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 1.6 million people have been unemployed since the military coup in Myanmar, and more than 300,000 of them are garment factory workers.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo – European Union Myanmar