A Report of B.K. Fashion Factory and Fired Workers on September 9, 2003

(1) Interview Date: February 2002

Name	Aung Khing
Sex	Male
Age	22 year old
Place of Birth	Hmawbi Village, Paung Township, Mon State
Education
Name of Factory	New Products Knitwear Co., Ltd
Type of Factory	Knitwear
Work Force	Over 1,500

He had worked for almost seven factories. The factory in which he is working now is more hot than the other factories in summer and there is no fan at all. The factory does not allow workers to form a union ---it allows only social welfare associations which work in the owner’s favor . The association doesn’t really deal with workers affairs--it in fact, aims to

1. control the drunk workers,
2. discourage gambling,
3. solve the quarrels within the factory, and
4. solve the emergency epidemics.

The association sometimes acts as a mediator when salary conflicts appear among the factory managers and the workers. But nevertheless it usually takes more positions for the owner than the workers. According to Aung Khaing, the majority of workers did not like the association anymore.
The factory administrative body divided workers into two types; daily wage-earners and piece – production workers. There are nine types of work in this factory, namely

1. Spinning Section
2. Knitting Section
3. Patching Section
4. Cloth Connecting Section (Sewing Section)
5. Fine Cloth Section (Cutting for Extra – Yarn )
6. Washing Section
7. Ironing Section
8. Final Cloth Checking Section
9. Packing Section

A majority of workers work at the knitting section and sewing section. The workers in the knitting section earn through the piece work system, and the workers at the sewing section earn through the daily wage system.

There are an estimated 15 child laborers aged between 14 and 15 years. Some of them come to Thailand together with their relatives or their parents. They earn between 45 -50 Baht, and their schedules are the same as other workers.

Every worker in this factory has to work at least 11 hours per day including overtime. Although there is no overtime on Saturdays and Sundays the workers need to work until 05:00pm. The day after payday, the factory closes.

In the peak production period the workers must work overtime from 6:00pm to midnight, and sometimes return to work at 06:00am in the next morning. In the rush peak -production period the workers must start at 8:00am so they have only two hours rest. Once in three months the workers have to work for almost three days without a rest. But nevertheless there are only 15 working days at the moment

The factory administrative body does not provide information about payment ahead of time to the workers receiving piece-work rates. The workers actually find out how much they will earn for piece-work only 7 days before payday. A new worker gets his first pay only after he has worked for 40 days. It means that the factory took 10 days deduction if he or she resigns from the job. Dissatisfaction with payment always appeared among these workers.

Piece-work rates vary depending on design and target time; earnings can vary depending on the production knitting machine assigned, for example Gate 3, Gate 5 or Gate 7. Some workers can use Gate 3 knitting machine on the one hand and some can use Gate 5 and Gate 7 on the other—all depending on the design of the work. Some workers must use other machines because they do not have enough skill. For the lack of skill some workers can not earn enough for their daily expense.

Skilled workers who have worked the same machine all the time can earn between 2,000 -2,500 Baht, but unskilled workers can earn only between 1,000 -1,500 Baht. They earn 7 Baht per hour in the overtime shift. For example, the workers will get 620 Baht for a dozen products under the piece–rate system. The skilled workers need a week to complete a dozen products but unskilled ones need at least 12 days.

If the Quality Control section does not like the product quality the workers need to do the spinning again.

The factory administrative body deducts 300 Baht a month from pay for work permit card. Aung Khaing earned more than 2,000 Baht only two times in the past six months.

There is a doctor at the factory, and the workers can take leave but only with permission from the doctor.

The factory administrative body arranges double beds for workers. But the workers cannot sleep in the summer because there is no ceiling fan on the one hand and it is too cold in the winter on the other. There are a little more than 40 toilets and they are too dirty. When the water is out of order the workers must go in the field outside the factory. Used water from the washing machines is stored near the factory and bad odor always permeates the factory. Thai people who live near by the factory also protest the bad odor.

The factory manager used to warn the workers not to demand increased salaries, and he also warned that he would let go 11 workers and bring in new ones. Meanwhile workers earn no more than 500 Baht (net) because the factory has little work and deducts 300 Baht for work permit cards.

(2) Interview Date: March, 2002

Name	Thet Ko
Sex	Male
Age	18 year old
Place of Birth	Kyeik Ka Thar Village, Kyeik HtoTownship, Mon State
Education	4th Grade
Name of Factory	New Product Co., Ltd
Type of Factory	Garment (Male Trousers)
Work Force	Over 100

Thet Ko has been to Mae Sot since four years ago together with his mother and sister, and he also has been working in Mae Sot for nearly four years. In this last factory he has been working for three months.

The workers can earn 45 Baht a day and 6 Baht for each hour over time. There are more than 50 illegal workers the factory and they all have no work permit. Meanwhile registered workers at the same factory can earn from 55-80 Baht a day. These illegal workers can not pay deductions for work permits --they can only earn 45 Baht a day. The usual task is to produce trousers and to accept any work as the owner directs, for example, each worker has to fix two pockets on an item and he or she has to fix 400 pockets a day.

The factory hired more illegal workers including Thet Ko. And the workers unfortunately heard that Thai authorities will come and check the factory on 26 February 2002. The factory owner told the unregistered workers that after the overtime shift on 25 February they should move to another place. At about 10:00pm on the same night these workers were sent to the farm belong to the owner’s brother----there they had to take all responsibility for themselves, including providing foodstuffs. All they were given was the space to live in.

In the evening of 28 February, the owner came to the farm and said he cannot take responsibility for their security. So the workers went to another place, gradually making their way. Then they heard that Thai police came to the farm the next day but no one was arrested because nobody was there. Although the workers asked the owner to give them an advance of about 300 Baht, the boss did not do it but said come and pick the salary up on 12 March 2002, the regular pay–day. All of these unregistered workers were automatically dismissed because the factory did not allow them to continue to work there.

Thet Ko wishes to go back to Burma. If he has saved about 100,000 Kyats (about 8000 Baht) he will go back and launch a barber shop or a tailor and live calmly, he said.

Report of B.K. Fashion Factory and Fired Workers on September 9, 2003
Appendix (2) - Workers Protect For Better Wages
Appendix (3) - Worse Working Situations of B.K. Factory In December, 2002
Appendix (4) - Tak Province Industrial Council’s Resolution

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