"A Tristate Myanmar factory labour with 9 years of service was unfairly fired", 28 August 2023

A labourer with more than 9 years of service at the Tristate Myanmar factory who had a problem with the...supervisor was unfairly fired...the labourer [said].

"...the HR manager forced [me] to quit and paid me 500,000 which is only...one-month [worth of] wages. This is unfair...," said Ko Aung Pai Htoo, who was fired.

Ko Aung Pai Htoo said that he had not committed any offense during his over 9 years of service at the factory. Before being fired, on August 14th, the Chinese national supervisor's wife was interfering [with] his job, so he went back home with the permission of the HR department.

“I asked the woman if I have to work overtime on Sunday. She said I don’t need to...and just stay at home. On Monday, the Chinese supervisor came to complain [and ask] why I didn’t come to work. I...told him the reasons. But the woman was sitting next to me and showing disapproval...that I came back home to prevent related inconveniences. The Chinese Supervisor didn’t sign for me and I came back with the gate pass from HR.”, said Ko Aung Paing Htoo.

[O]n August 15th and 16th, he arrived [at] the factory on time at 7:30 a.m., but was not allowed to enter the factory. On August 17th, the factory's HR manager, Ko Zin Win Soe, called Ko Aung Paing Htoo and said that he was fired.

"I told the HR manager to negotiate. He said that he could not and had no choice other than firing...I got paid 500,000 compensations because I was fired. I said I can't accept it...He forced me to sign by saying just take what you [have] got and leave.”, said Ko Aung Paing Htoo.

It is also known that an employment contract (EC) has been signed between the factory and Ko Aung Pai Htoo.

In the...EC contract [as] stated by the Ministry of Labor, "If the employer wants to terminate the worker, the employer must give 30 days' notice." When an employee is terminated, the employer must pay severance pay based on the employee's salary (overtime, excluding insurance) according to length of service.

In addition, the EC contract stipulates that "The working conditions included in the employment agreement must be consistent with existing laws, and the employee's benefits must not be less than the benefits under existing laws." in Section 5(c) of the Employment and Skills Development Law (2013).

The Tristate Myanmar factory is a factory owned by Chinese nationals, with around 3,000 labours and nine Chinese nationals working there...

The Tristate Myanmar factory had manufactured brands including M&S which has left Myanmar and other brands such as OTTO[,] New Look and Nautica according to the data of Myanmar Labour News. Currently, the factory is mainly manufacturing Italy based Max Mara and Cp brands.

In addition, the Tristate Myanmar factory was reported in August 2022 when the labours reported Myanmar Labour News that they were forced to work overtime, including weekends and there was swearing in the workplace.