Apheda Union Aid Abroad: Myanmar unionists call for international solidarity

Myanmar union leader Maung Maung came to Australia with a clear message: We can help hold his country’s military junta to account.

At a NSW Trades Hall event, Maung Maung, President of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), told Australian unionists and activists: ‘We don’t have the arms, but we have the hearts; the young people have held the ground.’

‘We need the Australian Government to work with ASEAN to hold the regime accountable’.

Since the military coup in 2021, trade unionists in Myanmar have been persecuted, jailed, forced into hiding or exile, and stripped of their citizenship.

ILO supports workers’ rights

Inside Myanmar, young trade unionists are documenting workers’ struggles and exposing human rights abuses, often at great personal risk. Their courage, combined with international solidarity, helped secure a landmark victory against the military regime: the invocation of Article 33 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Constitution.

Article 33 is the ILO’s strongest enforcement mechanism. It can only be invoked when a government persistently refuses to address serious violations of international labour standards.

The decision confirms that the junta is in serious breach of ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour, representing one of the strongest international condemnations of the regime to date.

Article 33 has been used only a handful of times in the ILO’s history.

Its adoption against Myanmar sends a powerful message: the military junta’s attacks on trade unionists, widespread use of forced labour and destruction of democratic freedoms are unacceptable to the international community.

The resolution calls on governments around the world to ensure they are not enabling, facilitating or prolonging violations of workers’ rights through any relations they may have with the military authorities, including through the supply of military equipment or the free flow of funds to the military authorities.

The CTUM is calling on Australia to build on its strong support for the ILO resolution:

‘Australia strongly supported the historic adoption of ILO Article 33 last year. Our request is for Australia, as a regional leader, to host a Myanmar side meeting at the ILO Governing Body in November.’

Sham elections

Last December, Myanmar’s military junta staged sham elections, held in only around one-third of the country and excluding major opposition parties.

Thousands of people were denied the opportunity to vote.

Australia’s Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee found the election was neither free, fair nor inclusive and recognised that Myanmar’s crisis extends far beyond its borders, driving regional instability, forced migration, human trafficking, cybercrime and transnational organised crime.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s economy continues to deteriorate, and the humanitarian crisis deepens.

Keep Myanmar out of ASEAN

Trade unions and democratic movements are calling on ASEAN and the international community to stop the military regime from further entrenching its power.

The junta has repeatedly ignored ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, agreed in 2021, which calls for an immediate end to violence, inclusive dialogue between all parties and unrestricted humanitarian assistance.

The CTUM is urging Australia to ensure Myanmar remains excluded from ASEAN engagement until the military complies with ILO monitoring mechanisms and the Five-Point Consensus.

For Maung Maung, the issue is no longer whether governments support democracy in Myanmar, but whether they will act quickly enough.

‘Otherwise, it will be another 26 years of authoritarianism,’ he warned, referring to Myanmar’s previous period of military rule.

‘We can’t afford that.’

Keep the pressure on

Australian unionists have an important role to play by keeping the pressure on our government.

Keep up to date

To take action, join Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA, email activists@apheda.org.au, or join the Myanmar Campaign Network by contacting mcn@apheda.org.au