"An employee of MK factory physically touched female workers", July 20 2023

Female workers told Myanmar Labor News that [an] employee at the Myanmar GiGi Leather Goods ManuFactory's MK Lutha Chi factory was physically touching factory workers.

"When the ... female workers in the factory were working, they held hands, He held the shoulder, pull[ed] the cheek .... "said a female worker.

Physical contact is defined as sexual harassment by international standards ... It includes groping and other inappropriate touching, said a gender expert who spoke on condition of anonymity.

[...]

... The workers said that they could not respond because they were worried that their jobs and income would be affected.

"Even the line leaders are afraid ... We are always told that the [managers] can release it immediately. They can't respond when they come and grab me when I'm trying to meet the standard of work. "[The hourly targets are also higher]" said the female worker.

In the hourly [target] request, if the set [target] is reached, another [target] is requested in the next hour.

The female worker said that ... she has to work to the full [target], even if she is pregnant.

[...]

Myanmar GiGi Leather Goods Manufactory has interviewed and appointed employees for the MK factory, and factory workers said that there are around 30 foreign employees in two factories.

[..]

... employees inside the workplace spoke angrily until the women workers cried. The factory workers said that they were shouting and shouting violently.

"... There are people who shed tears every day. If you cry like that, the [managers] ask you why you are crying and ask you to continue working," said a factory worker.

In addition, [managers] have moved the line [against the wishes] of the workers ...

One of the transferred workers said that even though they had signed that they would work wherever they were in the factory when they were hired, it was difficult for the workers to move to two factories with different productions.

"When changing the factory, I had to change from MK to GiGi, and go to do it." Some a few days. Some will never come back. Every job is different. The product is different. Sewing is also different," said a woman who was transferred to the GiGi factory.

It is reported that if workers are transferred from the MK factory, they are not informed in advance, and if they are asked to move, they have to be moved from the workplace immediately.

The woman said that if she were to move in such a way, the Myanmar GiGi factory would reject them saying that they don't need people on the lines, and that there would be inconveniences due to the lack of [workers] in the workplace.

Workers at the MK factory told Myanmar Labour News that these inconveniences cause psychological harm to workers and even lead to them quitting their jobs.

[Translation via Google Translate]