Episode 2: Eight Seconds cover art

Episode 2: Eight Seconds

Episode 2: Eight Seconds

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 One story from Myanmar. An accident in a garment factory has profound impacts on a woman's work, family, and social life, and shows up the attitudes of those with power in stark relief. Resistance and persistence bring some wins, but challenges remain immense, especially under Myanmar's military dictatorship. Links and contacts Griffith Review: griffithreview.com Matthew Abud (producer): tasi-sound@proton.me Clean Clothes Campaign: cleanclothes.org Patch Pheasant (bass player): patrickpheasant@yahoo.com.au Transcript Matthew Abud, Producer (MA): This is Behind the Seams. A quick note that the story in this episode comes from Myanmar, also called Burma. Garment Worker (GW): I am now 29 years old. At the factory, there were shirts and also trousers. I had to iron the small pockets, that kind of thing. I sewed for the Primark brand. On October 3rd, 2020, when COVID was happening, they asked me to attach fusing to the small trousers. I told my leader that I wasn't very skilled. I was scared to do it, you know? My leader said, "Do it. You're quick." So, I had to do it. I was terrified. They made me rush to finish the pieces. They said, "Hey, hurry up with the ironing." So, I had to work, quickly. As I grabbed the garment, my hand got caught in the machine. I was caught for eight seconds. It was stuck. When it was finally freed, I was taken to the factory clinic, but the nurse didn't do much. They sent me to the hospital. They put some medicine on it. When it happened, they did nothing. They just went on with their work. In the hospital, it was just me and my mother. My mother came. She said, "Oh my God, what happened to you?" My mother took care of me. It was only me and my mother in the hospital. My husband? He left. On the same day as the accident. The day my hand got injured, the day I was admitted, he wasn't there. He ran away. Why did he come back now? It's because I reported it to his father. His father must have told him, "You have a daughter. She should be with both her parents." So, he came back to reconcile. My child was six years old then. I only have one child. Just one. She's in the second grade now. After about six months, I called my manager and told him I was coming back to work. I asked if I could come back. He said, "You can't come back. I have already fired you." I said, "Really? How could you have fired me?" He said, "Well, the other people told me to fire you." So, I went to the Labour Office. I talked to a senior person there. He said, "You can't fire her. Her hand is disabled, and you have to guarantee her a job." The manager refused. He said, "She's fired." Then the official said, "Where's her signature? Where's her dismissal letter? If you fired her, do you have the document? Does it have her signature?" They said, "No." The official said, "Then you have to rehire her. You have to rehire this girl." They put me in the thread cutting department. I can't do too much because of my disabled hand. They scolded me, saying I was disabled. They scolded me. Tears came to my eyes. After a month of working, my hand started hurting, like a stinging pain. So, I went to see a doctor. They said they wouldn't guarantee the outcome, but they would have to operate. It would cost 2.5 million kyat. So, I said I would ask my boss and union leaders. At that time, workers' organizations had started to appear. I got involved. I first told the labour leader. They're the ones who help us out. But the factory owner wouldn't pay. The manager said they had done as much as they could, and didn't need to pay anymore. I asked, "What did you do for me? You didn't even give me a water bottle." As I was saying that, the manager berated me. He yelled at me. They offered 1 million in consolation money and 1 million for medical expenses. I refused. I said, if I get the treatment, it will cost 2.5 million. I showed them the doctor's letters and everything, but they refused to pay. Then the leader from the union, STUM, she went there and filed the case for me. She helped me from the very beginning. I am very grateful. Until today, I am grateful for their help. Thank you very much. Well, the hand is better than before. It has improved. It looks like it's peeling. It's because they scraped it, you see? Before this, the fingers were tightly stuck together, and I couldn't move them. That's how it was. They operated here, grafted skin from here. But I can't bend it all the way. I can only do this much. I can only clench it this much. I can't clench it tightly. Just this much is possible. It hurts if I try more. The doctor said it's getting better. That's what he said. But I can't grip or hold things properly. I have to do physical therapy exercises. I can hold things a little, but it's not stable. The factory shut down. I don't know if it was 2022 or 2023. Living became difficult. Because of that, I had to go back to the village. In the village, there were also difficulties. We rented farmland. I had to borrow ...
No reviews yet