Myanmar solidarity
On 1 February 2021, the military in Myanmar overthrew the elected government and seized power as the State Administrative Council (SAC). Mass protest erupted around the country, spearheaded by garment workers and their unions, in what has come to be called the Spring Revolution.
The army and police responded to the peaceful protests with deadly force
Over 3,000 people have been killed by the military and police since the start of the attempted coup, over 20,000 people have been arrested and almost 2,000 are in hiding to escape arrest warrants. Over a million people have been internally displaced by the military’s violence, including systematically burning hundreds of villages and dropping bombs on refugee camps in that the UN has suggested amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The National Unity Government (NUG), Myanmar’s government in exile made up of elected lawmakers and members of parliament ousted by the military has called for people to take up arms in resistance to the military, declaring a people’s defensive war against the military junta.
garment workers and trade unions have been on the frontlines of the resistance of military rule.
Before 2010 many International brands were unwilling to operate in Myanmar because they didn’t want to be associated with the draconian working conditions and other atrocities taking place under military rule. Following moves towards democracy after 2010 the garment industry became a huge source of income for the country. The cut-make-pack (CMP) garment sector exports for the fiscal year 2020/21 were reported to value US$3.24 billion. The garment industry in Myanmar constitutes US$6bn of annual exports (approx. 30% of all exports).
The double impact of the global pandemic in 2020 and the military coup in
February 2021, led the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to report that the
garment sector has lost some 220,000 jobs. Meanwhile, wages have dropped
significantly, with reports that wages are reaching as low as $1.94 USD a day – only just above international poverty line. Meanwhile there are increasing reports of forced labour taking place.
The right to collective bargaining has been suspended as many of the country’s trade unions have been outlawed, even labelled as terrorist organisations. Factory owners and employers are reported to be taking advantage of the coup to undermine workers’ rights. Many permanent workers have been sacked and replaced with temporary workers on a daily wage.
Employers are also known to be working in collaboration with the army to destroy the trade union movement by informing on trade union activists, providing soldiers with names of trade union members they find problematic or who oppose the military coup and having them arrested. Many trade union organizers are now in hiding, yet still active in the movement.
it's time to go!
In September 2021, two of the largest trade unions in Myanmar, the All Burma Federation of Trade Unions (ABFTU) and the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) put out a joint statement condemning the actions of the employers and calling on Western brands to stop sourcing their products from Myanmar suppliers as a way to undermine the military’s grip on power. This call has been endorsed by the Myanmar Labour Alliance (MLA), the coalition of the country’s trade unions, many of which have been declared illegal. by the regime.
Myanmar military: never in fashion
Together with Global Women’s Strike and representatives from the MLA, No Sweat has responded to the trade unions call by launching a new campaign, Myanmar Military Never in Fashion.
Over 170 trade unions and civil society groups from 20 countries around the world have come together to amplify their call in a joint statement that argues there can be no business as usual under the brutal military regime.
The fact is that Myanmar’s garment industry has its factories in industrial zones which, for over a year now, have been under martial law. This means workers in these factories are subject to military tribunal if arrested for participating in any protests, and run much greater risk when attempting to enforce their rights in the workplace.
Brands claim to be continuing their operations in Myanmar out of a desire to protect their workers from the falling into poverty, but this was not a consideration they took into account at the height of the pandemic when they cancelled orders and closed factories without providing workers any form of compensation. Their claims to care for workers ring hollow.
Myanmar’s trade unions say it is impossible for brands to do the due diligence necessary to protect workers from exploitation, due diligence that brands have in their own Codes of Conduct.
If brands really cared for the safety and livelihoods of their workers they would be putting efforts into creating a responsible exit from Myanmar, one that would provide compensation to the the workers, and provide them with a basic income until they can resume operations.
Given the billions of dollars profits the major brands report it is clear that they can afford to do more to protect workers in their supply chains from the deteriorating conditions of the military’s Myanmar.
Brands operating in Myanmar need to take action!
● New Look ● Next ● Adidas ● Matalan ● Lidl ●
When unions call for a boycott we have a responsibility to support them.
No Sweat joins the trade unions of Myanmar in their call for brands to urgently take action:
1. Cease all production in Myanmar as a means to put pressure on the military dictatorship.
2. Publicly join the international condemnation of the military coup in Myanmar and call for democracy to be restored.
3. Actively support the trade unions, the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Government of National Unity in their efforts to stop this brutal military dictatorship.
YOU CAN PUT PRESSURE ON THE BRANDS TOO
TAKE ACTION!
Show solidarity with the workers of Myanmar messaging the brands through social media
and tell them that trade unions are calling on them to stop all production in Myanmar.