Forced labour complaints on the rise in Burma, says ILO

Thursday, 09 June 2011 12:53 Thea Forbes 
Chiang Mai (Mizzima)  – The International Labour Organization (ILO) office in Burma has seen a dramatic rise in complaints about forced labour owing to increased public awareness about the problem, Agence France-Presse has reported. The ILO has received 506 complaints of forced labour since the start of 2010, AFP reported.

‘The number of complaints received continues to increase reflecting increased awareness of the law and rights under the law as well as increased confidence to complain’, Steve Marshall, the ILO liaison officer in Rangoon told Mizzima in March.

The ILO has received 749 complaints since its forced labour complaint mechanism and office was established in the country in February 2007, according to AFP.



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Dozens of Villagers Forced to Porter in Three Pagodas Pass

Wednesday, 08 June 2011 15:16 Independent Mon News Agency
By Independent Mon News Agency - Dozens of ethnic Karen from Aplon and Myaing Thayar villages in Three Pagodas Pass were forced to porter on June 6th by Burmese government troops.

These government troops, from the Light Infantry Battalion No. 373, commanded by the Western Command in Arakan State, took 10 villagers from Myaing Thayar village and forced these villagers to carry backpacks and baskets to Aplon village.

Explained by an Aplon villager by phone to the Independent Mon News Agency on Tuesday, once the troops and porters arrived in Aplon village, the [LIB No. 373] troops took 24 more porters in order to send them to Mae Sa Lee village.

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Villagers forced to serve as human shields and porters by Burmese soldiers

Wednesday, 08 June 2011 21:35 Kun Chan

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – One day after two people were killed by masked gunmen in Three Pagoda Pass in Mon State on the Thai-Burmese border, Burmese government troops have reportedly forced villagers to serve as human shields and porters, according to local residents.

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Forced labour complaints soar in Burma

Published: 8 June 2011

Many complaints about forced labour in Burma involve child soldiers (DVB)

Burma has seen a “dramatic” rise in complaints about forced labour owing to increased public awareness about the problem, a UN agency working in the country said Tuesday.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) branch in Rangoon has received 506 complaints since the start of 2010 – more than double the number seen during the previous three years.

“This dramatic increase can be put down to extensive awareness raising activity,” said the ILO’s Burma liaison officer, Steve Marshall, in an email to AFP.

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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.

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Interventions at ILC special sitting on Myanmar

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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. 

Workers Group at the 100th International Labour Conference (ILC)

Workers Group at the 100th International Labour Conference (ILC)

The Opening Ceremony of the 100th International Labour Conference

FTUB delegation at the opening ceremony of the 100th ILC

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia

opening ceremony of the 100th ILC

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.

Workers Group at the 100th International Labour Conference (ILC)

FTUB delegation and Thai workers delgation at 100th ILC

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.

Three members FTUB delegation arrived in Geneva to attend the 100th ILC

100th International Labour Pre Conference on May 31st, 2011

U Maung Maung-General Secretary, U Zarni Thwe-Regaional Secretary, U Than Lwin-Vice President

2011 May 18 Burma and the 100th session ILC