In-DepthMyanmar

The women surviving labour rights violations in Myanmar’s garment sector

Amid a labour shortage and high demand for clothing production, employers are flouting regulations limiting hours and overtime, pushing the industry’s underpaid, largely female workforce to exhaustion

The names of our sources have been changed in this story to protect their security

Sabai, a woman working at a garment factory in one of Yangon’s industrial zones, is only allowed one 30-minute lunch break and one 10-minute snack break during a shift that otherwise consists of 12 hours of constant sewing.

“When I get home, I’m just exhausted. I don't want to do anything else,” Sabai said, sighing from fatigue after another week working from 8 am to 8 pm, six days in a row.

Her day is not over after she returns to the room where she lives, however, as she still has to do household chores like laundry as well as prepare dinner and pack lunch to take to work the next morning. Sabai goes to bed late, and usually anxious about being able to wake up. . .

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