"Female labours from a Hlaing Thar Yar Garment Factory were forced to work overnight at the South Dagon Factory", 23 October 2023

A family member of a young female labourer reported to Myanmar Labour News that the officials of the MAIYIBEI garment factory in Shwe Lin ban Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar are forcing female labours to go to work overnight in factories at the East Dagon Township.

"Yesterday (October 9th) around noon, I was told that they had to go to work at a factory in the east of Dagon City...She also told [us] that they are working all night," said the family member.

It is also reported that there are 9 female labours who are working at the factory in the East Dagon Township. The young women from MAIYIBEI Garment Factory are only in their 20s, so the family members are worried as they cannot be contacted easily.

"An official from Hlaing Thar yar MAIYIBEI Factory said, they have to sleep for another night [at the factory] as the work is not over yet. So how are the girls doing? They can't take a shower and I am not sure whether they have money or not. Is it safe for young women to sleep in the factory. The factory...also said that they can't go and pick up [the girls]. So why don't they inform the guardians in advance?" said a family member of a young woman.

MAIYIBEI (Yangon) Garment Manufacturing Co;LTD is a garment factory located in Padauk Road, Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. A labourer [said] that the [workers] did not know the exact location of the garment factory in the East Dagon City where they went to work...the labourers did not want to work, but the factory told them to.

"They said [they had] to work until 22:00 and all night overtime...I don't know where the factory is...[The factory] should inform [the workers] a day in advance. The factory should provide food and accommodation,” a female labour who visited a factory in the East Dagon City told Myanmar Labour News.

The MAIYIBEI Garment Factory...is said to be manufacturing warm jackets with a workforce of around 500. The factory was re-opened in June of this year. A factory [worker] said that they had to work 4 hours overtime a day, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m on Saturday and a half day on Sunday without wages.

“I asked the super[visors] why we didn't get overtime pay...I had to work for more than 3 months without getting paid for overtime," said a female labour at the factory.