H&M Supplier Shutdown Leaves 1,000 Garment Workers High and Dry

More than 1,000 garment workers in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township will lose their livelihoods at the end of June when Kings Rich Fashion, a supplier for global fashion giant H&M, shuts its doors.

Factory management blames a slump in global orders for the closure after a decade in operation, but workers argue it is part of a wider industrial malaise gripping Myanmar under military rule.

“They gave us a month’s notice, claiming orders had simply dried up,” one worker told The Irrawaddy. “We will be paid compensation, but we will have to find a new job.”

The impending shutdown makes a mockery of regime chief Min Aung Hlaing’s pledges at his presidential inauguration to revive foreign investment, alleviate economic hardship and create jobs. Many Western firms ditched their Myanmar operations soon after the 2021 coup, and the country has struggled to attract new investment since.

Kings Rich had long been plagued by labor rights disputes, while similar abuses and desperation over wages are triggering strikes across Yangon’s sprawling industrial zones. Often labor protests are met with summary mass firings.

In early May, Nay Shwe Win Garment Factory in Shwepyithar Township dismissed 19 workers, citing raw material shortages. When colleagues staged a solidarity protest, another 103 were fired days later. Similar layoffs occurred at the Handa (2) factory in the Shwe Lin Ban industrial zone, where roughly 100 workers were terminated for demanding a pay increase.

Over at the same township’s Sun Rise (Myanmar) Fashion, nearly 900 workers recently quit after management rejected their demand for a wage increase from 15,000 to 17,000 kyats. Only 200 workers returned to work.

Labor organizers warn that employers are weaponizing the economic crisis to systematically purge veteran workers and union leaders, effectively crushing collective bargaining.

“They blacklist and fire organizers who lead the demands,” one labor advocate said. “They mostly target union members who have worked for several years at their factories. It’s a textbook union-busting strategy.”

The legal minimum wage for garment workers currently sits at just 7,800 kyats for an eight-hour workday—a figure that has been completely hollowed out by inflation, though it is bolstered by various mandatory allowances.

Two kilograms of basic rice now costs roughly 5,000 kyats, while a viss (1.6 kg) of cooking oil sells for 15,000 kyats (about US$3.5). Labor rights advocates say workers are demanding raises just to avoid starvation.

Myanmar’s garment sector employs roughly half a million people, predominantly women, across more than 500 factories. A significant portion are Chinese-owned and notorious for grueling quotas and labor rights abuses.

While workers take immense personal risks to press for fair wages, the Ministry of Labor functions as little more than a rubber stamp for factory owners, leaving employees defenseless against illegal dismissals and even industry-wide blacklisting.