“Workplace violations at the Hesheng Wallet Factory cost up to 50,000 kyat per day off work”, 9 March 2022

…Workers told Myanmar Labor News that there were also cases of labor exploitation.

The factory has been involved in labor rights abuses against female workers. Wage fraud; Workers told MLN that they were being harassed.

Call OT every day and night

Factory workers…are sent to work at 9 pm every day. Workers say they are forced to [work] from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m…

[Workers have been] called [for] OT every day for many months, but the factory does not pay the OT fee.

Wage fraud or 50,000 kyats per day

…"A worker in the QC position informed the factory that [his] motorcycle had collided near the factory, and he was fined 50,000 kyat per day [of medical leave].

Workers [employed] less than three months are paid 2,700 kyats a day. Veterans are forced to work at 4,800 a day, leaving workers struggling to make ends meet.

The workers also said that they could not [receive] their OT fees because they were sick on the day of the OT payment and could not come the next day…

Forced not to eat enough food

Workers at the factory are often forced to work overtime…often without adequate nutrition…

According to the majority of workers, most of the workers who do not have time to cook at home due to overtime work continue to work without adequate nutrition.

Lack of responsibility for employee safety

Hesheng Myanmar factory workers have to stay in the factory every day and return to their dormitories around 4 in the morning because the factory…calls them late at night.

According to workers, [a worker]…was robbed on the way [home] because the factory did not arrange for a ferry to return, and one of the factory workers was raped by a motorcyclist…

Arbitrary investigation and arrest of workers in collaboration with the Military Council

… According to the workers, they are committing wage fraud and working with the Terrorist Military Council to oppress the workers.

"The army was brought in and the mobile phone was searched and arrested at the entrance of the factory. Anti-military workers in the factory were suppressed…”

In addition, senior employees in the factory are given equal opportunities, and supervisors' salaries and benefits are slightly increased, and ordinary employees are subjected to oppression and exploitation. Workers say they are being paid only 3,600 kyats a day…

Hesheng Myanmar factory produces Italian brand Guess wallets, Belts; It mainly exports handbags to European markets.

Workers also told MLN that the factory occasionally secretly exports the skins and handbags of animals such as leopards and leopards, which are sometimes subject to official trade restrictions.

Workers want the Hesheng Myanmar factory to be exposed as soon as possible.