"KSENG (Myanmar) Apparel Garment Factory in Shwe Pytha Township still has workplace violations" 12 February 2024

Shwe Pytha Township Thadhukan Industrial Zone No.--, Plot No. (51) KSENG (Myanmar) Apparel Garment Factory is reported to have illegal overtime recruitment as well as workplace violations.

The...factory...employs around 900 workers.

The workers in the workplace are being asked to sew more than...they can normally sew, and if the [target] is not met, the super leaders are pressurizing them, so the workers are being made to sew...without going to the toilet/drinking water. The workers say that it is a violation of the workplace because it is difficult to go to the welfare clinic if there is a workplace injury because they do not issue welfare cards.

Even though the factory has signed the EC contract with the workers and they have to pay the monthly welfare allowance, the workers have not been given the receipts and even the workers who have been working for up to 3 years have not yet received the welfare card.

In addition, the worker said that even when the elderly sanitation workers take leave due to ill health...the HR department has arrogant communication...The WCC, which was formed within the workplace, said that it could not resolve workplace disputes because it only acted according to the will of the businessmen without looking at the workers.

Last January, the entire month of overtime was [until] 8:00 p.m., and on some days, overtime was called [until] 11:00 p.m. Lack of meal planning; The worker said that there is no convenient arrangement for [transport], and the overnight workers are called until 11:30 p.m. and it is not convenient for them to return home, so they have to sleep at the factory and return to their homes at 5:00 a.m. and return to work before work time at 7:30 a.m., the worker said...

When overtime is called, the factory does not arrange for the workers to eat when they are hungry, and they are not allowed to bring their own bread, so they face a lot of difficulties.

...the workers are continuously forced to work on Sundays without rest, and they are only paid for overtime on Sundays and overtime calls without mentioning it in the salary sheet.

They are not allowed to use phones in the workplace, and when they come to work, the clerks take pictures of the phones without the consent of the workers.

"I accept not using the phone at work, but it's a problem because the phones are kept, so it's quite uncomfortable...The other day, a woman in the production line left [her] baby with her mother... The baby was very sick..."..."It's very bad...if they see you using your phone at work, they punish you...

[Translation via Google Translate]