Striking factory workers in Pegu win demands

Wednesday, 08 June 2011

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Sixty-five Burmese workers in the Cap 1 Hat Factory in Hinthakon War in Pegu who staged a strike against overly strict factory rules have ended a one-day strike following successful negotiations with the Korean owner.

The agreement included demoting two foremen and relaxing regulations with regard to talking during work hours and going to the toilet.

Thin Thin, who took part in the strike, told Mizzima, ‘We reached an agreement. The factory authorities demoted the two foremen that we disliked, and they were transferred to the Rangoon branch’.

The workers issued their concerns on Saturday and went on strike on Monday. On Tuesday, the township authorities and officials from the Ministry of Labour in Naypyitaw met with the factory owner to mediate between the two sides to reach an agreement.

The workers also asked the management to clearly state overtime working hours.

More>>>>>

100° ILO  CONFERENCE

June 4, 2011

Special sitting to examine developments concerning the question of the observance by the Government of Myanmar of the Forced Labor Convention,

1930 (No 29 ).

 

Will start at 10:00 am Geneva time. 

The Opening Ceremony of the 100th International Labour Conference

Today:

At the opening ceremony of the 100th International Labour Conference, it was pointed out that Burma was the only country not to have a Workers' delegation. FTUB Vice President U Than Lwin and Regional Secretary U Zarni Thwe participated in the ceremony. Brief report presented by the Chairperson of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office on the credentials of the delegates and advisors to the 100th session of the International Labour Conference. Furthermore, while the Conference and the Credentials Committee have previously insisted on the obligations which article 33 of the Constitutions imposes on the governments requiring them to send complete delegations to the Conference, two member states (Haiti and Tajikistan) have accredited a delegation exclusively composed of Government delegates. In addition, one member state (Myanmar) have appointed an Employers delegate but no Workers delegate, while two member states ( Bosnia and Herzegovina and Uzbekistan) have appointed a Workers delegate but no Employers delegate.

Three members of the FTUB arrived in Geneva

On May 31st, three members of the Federation of Trade Unions – Burma (FTUB) arrived in Geneva to attend the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) 100th Session of the International Labor Conference.  FTUB Vice President U Than Lwin, General Secretary U Maung Maung, and Regional Secretary U Zarni Thwe will attend the conference, where they will ask for an ILO Commission of Inquiry into violations of the freedom of association in Burma.  The delegation will also discuss workers’ rights violations in Burma.

 The FTUB is a member of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the world’s largest trade union with over 175 million members workers in 157 countries.  The FTUB is currently working on issues of forced labor, and the continual denial of freedom of association in Burma.  It has been presenting claims of works’ rights violations before the ITUC since 1992.