"Lian Fa (Myanmar) Garment Factory Not Paying Ministry-Set Allowance", 12 September 2024

Lian Fa (Myanmar) Company is not paying the 1,000 kyats allowance in wages, workers say. The ministry has announced that the 1,000 kyats allowance will be calculated and added to wages starting from August 1.

“The factory paid only 5,800 kyats on September 5. According to the ministry’s announcement, the daily wage will be 6,800 kyats. The factory also does not pay allowances for holidays,” said a factory worker.

The factory also said that the 1,000 kyats allowance they used to receive was not paid for weekends and holidays, so the factory workers only receive 26,000 kyats in wages per month...

The 30,000 kyats per month of allowance can buy about 6 bags of rice, which is enough to buy a week’s worth of rice, the worker said. A labor activist said that the failure to comply with the ministry’s instructions is a lack of respect for the law...

The workers at the Lian Fa (Myanmar) Company garment factory work overtime for 4 hours a day and have to work continuously from the lunch break until 8 p.m. In addition, there is no clinic, nurse, or medical equipment in the factory, and if injured, the workers have to buy the medical equipment themselves.

“Some workers in the factory sell medicine and equipment...We buy it ourselves. We work continuously from 12 noon to 8 pm without a break. Not only that, but on Saturdays we have to work until 6:30 pm. Today (September 11) we have to work overnight.”

In addition, the workers said that if the factory takes leave for Saturday, they also deduct two days’ wages...

The Lian Fa (myanmar) Company garment factory is located in Shwe Than Lwin Industrial Zone, Min Ayer Road, Hlaing Tharyar (Eastern) Township, Yangon, and employs around 300 workers. Although a WCC has been formed within the factory, there are no worker representatives and no union has been formed, the workers said...

[Translation via Google Translate]