Aug 2, 2012
What a difference four months can make. When I first went to Burma in January of this year, some of the Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB) labor activists I met with were too worried about security forces to meet me in public. The officers of the Agriculture and Farmers Federation of Myanmar (AFFM), for example, had attempted to register with the government under the new Labor Organization Law but had been rebuffed. They met with me in my hotel room.
By the time I returned in April, we met in a hotel coffee shop and its chairperson, Than Swe, seemed very confident. In the previous four months, the AFFM distributed 35,000 membership forms in areas around Rangoon, Mandalay and Arakan, had received 9,462 applications (up from 4,200 members in January) and issued 6,942 membership cards.
Today, in the wake of pressure put on the Burmese government at the International Labor Conference in June, the AFFM boasts 16 registered units, with dozens more in the process of registering. In addition, the government has told various observers that it is prepared to allow the FTUB and its leaders to re-enter the country after their years of exile, and to register the federation under the new law as well.
Workers are organizing in the industrial sector as well, with new FTUB affiliates registered in paper, plastic and textile/garment factories. In Bago, a provincial city about two hours north of Rangoon, we checked in with the Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Union of Bago (TGLWUB), whom I first met in January. In four months their membership expanded from 2,000 to 5,000 workers in three factories. Most factories in the region have Chinese, Korean or other owners, and union representatives say they work seven days a week and make 15 cents an hour, or about $2 a day.
Besides what appears to be a new reality for freedom of association, the media also may be opening up. These twin developments are groundbreaking for the Journalist, Press and Publication Workers Union (JPPWU), which also registered two units in July. In the months since my first visit with them, they had held their founding convention with about 100 delegates from all over the country—and had gained 250 members, nearly doubling their membership. They said they could have about 4,000 potential members in Burma.
While there is still controversy and negotiations over what a new press/media law would look like, JPPWU members said there had been some pushback from the media on the government’s first draft. Even though a few entrepreneurs are taking the plunge and opening new publications, most are waiting for the law to pass and the landscape to become clearer before they jump in. Most people in the countryside get their information from radio, and the top broadcasters are Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and the BBC Burmese service. The AFP, Reuters, Associated Press and the BBC have locally staffed bureaus.
Something that struck me about all the workers I met from the different sectors was their organizing grew out of a desire not only to improve their wages and working conditions, but from a fierce conviction that this was a moment in history and if they were going to build a democratic society, it would be unions that could lead the way.
May 23, 2012
As workers around the world celebrated International Labor Day at the beginning of May, more than 500 migrant workers on the Thai-Burmese border took collective action to demand that their employer improve wages and working conditions in a garment factory where they were earning less than 25 cents per hour for an 11-hour shift, according to reports. As a result of their two-day strike, the workers succeeded in doubling their wages and winning important gains in workplace conditions.
More than 2 million migrants, mainly from Burma, are working in Thailand, according to the International Labor Organization. These workers, among the most vulnerable in Thai society, have no legal right to form a union. Often lacking legal work permits, they are exploited, and their basic human and worker rights under domestic Thai laws and international labor standards are constantly violated. Non-governmental organizations such as the Human Rights and Development Foundation’s (HRDF) Labor Law Clinic—a Solidarity Center partner located in Mae Sot on the Burmese border—provide a safe haven for migrant workers struggling for justice and help them organize in the face of such harsh conditions. HRDF and its community-based organization, the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs (JACBA), have long played a role in helping empower migrant workers to win justice against employers who seek to abuse workers’ rights in favor of the corporate bottom line.
The garment workers had been protesting their conditions for nearly a month: their wages were less than half the legal daily minimum wage, they were forced to work under filthy conditions, and they had no clean water or doors in the employee restrooms. On May 1, International Labor Day, they decided to take action the following morning. The LLC and JACBA helped the workers file a petition to the authorities and provided technical support after they went on strike. Following extensive negotiations with worker representatives, factory managers—seeing their profits dwindle with every day the strike endured—agreed to dramatically raise wages for both daily and piece work, shorten work shifts, and improve workplace conditions.
Feb 10, 2012
Workers in Burma, also known as Myanmar, are well under way to building independent trade unions in multiple sectors. In Yangon (Rangoon), the capital, the Solidarity Center’s Tim Ryan spoke with union organizers about forming independent unions and the current government’s stated commitment to democratic reform.
Myo Aung Thant, a 56-year-old executive board member of the Federation of Trade Unions–Burma (FTUB), is skeptical of the promised political changes taking place. Under the previous military regime, Myo Aung Thant suffered 15 years in prison for union activities—during which he was subjected to physical and psychological torture. In his opinion, the political openings claimed by the Burmese government are too slow and, quite possibly, not real.
Recently freed along with several hundred other political prisoners, Myo Aung Thant has reinitiated his work to build an independent labor federation for Burma. Soon various unions will attempt to register with the government. This, Myo Aung Thant explained, will be a crucial test of the regime’s commitment to change.
Union activists from multiple sectors, including journalists, farmers, textile, and garment and industrial workers, met with Ryan. They were in agreement that economic conditions for the vast majority of people living in Burma are severe.
In all sectors, wages are low, and people regularly work overtime without additional pay. Teak factory and garment workers earn less than the average daily rate, between $1 and $2. Their wages are insufficient to cover the cost of living or the price of food, and workers and their families live in poverty.
Union activists in many sectors said they have a fervent wish to organize, demonstrating their belief that improvement hinges on workers’ ability to form representative unions that can bargain effectively with employers. The government recently passed legislation allowing for trade union activity, rescinding a longstanding ban.
The Agriculture and Farmers Federation of Myanmar (AFFM) anticipates an explosion of union formation in Burma in the near future. The AFFM has 4,200 members in 15 states. Its leaders predict they can organize an additional 20,000 farmers and agricultural workers.
Officers and members of the AFFM accused the new government of deliberately delaying registration of their union. They said union leaders and members have been intimidated and harassed following their attempt to file the official registration.
A group of young labor activists from the Myanmar Industrial Trade Union (MITU) said their union filed for registration in November last year. They have yet to receive acknowledgment or a reply.
In spite of deep concerns for their safety, MITU activists remain committed to organizing in various industrial sectors, including garments, woodworking, and construction materials, mainly in industrial zones around Yangon. MITU has already organized 1,000 workers. By April the union anticipates having 2,500 members.
MITU representatives reported being interrogated by members of the government’s special branch intelligence unit and being asked for their biographies. Special branch intelligence and police officers also surrounded and observed MITU’s founding convention.
The Textile, Garment, and Leatherworkers Union of Bago, which has 2,000 members, applied for registration late last year but was rejected. Regardless, the union’s leaders continue organizing and will open a formal office when they accumulate sufficient funds.
Representatives of the Journalists, Press, and Publications Workers Union (JPPWU) said they have a pool of approximately 4,000 media workers from which to organize. The group included a recently released cartoonist jailed by the military regime for work published in the Bangkok Post.
JPPWU activists agreed that there has been a press thaw in recent months but said improvements had not gone far enough. Television and radio, the journalists said, were still “government propaganda.”
JPPWU had its founding convention at the end of January in what the group described as “a safe place.” The union plans to apply immediately for registration.
Almost 22 years ago, the National League for Democracy (NLD) was elected by a landslide. But instead of turning over the reins of government, the military dictatorship crushed the NLD and imprisoned its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In the ensuing sweep-up, the regime jailed thousands of political prisoners, among them labor activists and union leaders. Many others fled the country.
Over the past two decades the Solidarity Center has supported Burmese labor activists who have worked with Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, reached inside the country, and trained many of the workers now forming unions inside Myanmar. Several activists who met with Ryan reported being recipients of this training.
Feb 3, 2012
Almost 22 years ago, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide in a free and fair election in Burma—but the military dictatorship refused to let the NLD take power. Instead, the ruling junta crushed the organization and imprisoned its members and activists, including its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
In the past six months, Burma seems to be thawing, opening to the outside world it long shunned. And Suu Kyi, who spent many of the interceding years under house arrest—and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her struggle—is out again among the people, speaking at rallies and renewing her call for democracy.
On a recent trip to Rangoon, I had the opportunity to sit down with Aung San Suu Kyi for a conversation about the future of the labor movement in Burma. We discussed my meetings over the previous few days—with journalists, farmers, textile and garment workers, and industrial workers—all of whom had started to form independent unions. She thanked the Solidarity Center and the U.S. labor movement for its support.
Suu Kyi had already given a lot of thought to what a future Burma labor movement should look like. She felt that it was important for unions to be responsible and to work for their members. She said the new unions should not be tools or fronts for any political parties, including her own NLD. She did not say that unions should not be involved in politics or support the political parties they wanted, but she did voice her position that parties should not create unions and the NLD had no desire or intent to do so.
When we talked about economic development, she stressed that Burma should not be just about garment factories; other, more creative economic development was necessary, she said. I said that Burma had the opportunity to engage in a variety of economic activities and mentioned natural resources and extractive industries as possible but also problematic. She laughed gently and said there were a lot of opportunities “to do things right or do them very wrong.”
We ended the meeting with a promise to stay in touch, and she said that they would be busy until April 1, when by-elections are scheduled. The NLD is going to participate in elections for the first time in 20 years.
“We should meet soon,” she said as I was leaving. And she reiterated the importance of independent, responsible unions, saying she did not want to see unions run by demagogues.
“Being a demagogue is so boring,” she said with a laugh.
The Solidarity Center over the past two decades has supported Burmese labor activists that have worked with Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, have reach within the country, and have trained workers about their rights and international labor standards. Today, these workers in Burma are beginning to form and register their own unions.
