"Rise in unlicenced garment factories fuels labour exploitation in post-coup Myanmar"

... Ma Wah Lwin*, a worker at Sinoproud Garments, complained that her factory closed for 17 days during Chinese New Year in January and paid her only K1,800 a day. This is less than US$1 at the official rate and far below the minimum wage of K4,800, which is required by law for long-term closures.

“For all of January I earned only about K100,000,” Wah Lwin told Frontier. She added that she earns around K250,000 ($120) in months without major holidays, but that this is down from the K300,000-400,000 she made each month before the coup.

The factory has also cut its labour force, driving remaining workers to exhaustion. “A production line that used to have 50 workers now has 30. It’s so stressful but there’s no way we can complain,” she said.

Both women said their only recourse is to quit, but they can’t do so until they find another job to support their families. Frontier tried to contact both factories, but no one answered their phones...