Free Myanmar: Demand for ILO Article 33 Now!

Since the failed military coup d'état on 1st February 2021, approximately 5,098 people have been killed and 26,695 arrested. The military has decimated the democratic and independent trade union movement, revoked the citizenship, passports, and national identification cards of trade union leaders, rendering them stateless, and has killed, jailed, tortured, and harassed trade unionists while promoting yellow unions.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), along with the international trade union movement, stands with the ILO Commission of Inquiry report. The military authorities contest, at the outset, the politicized manner in which the Commission operates, the fact that they were not invited to participate in Governing Body discussions, and the decision to establish the Commission, which they claim was based on inaccurate and distorted reports from opposition groups, without giving them a meaningful opportunity to refute.

In defiance of the ILO Commission of Inquiry Report recommendations, Thet Hnin Aung, General Secretary of MICS-TUsF, remains in jail. The military has enforced the Conscription Law and issued a notification of the effectiveness of the People’s Military Service Law starting from 10th February 2024. The State Administration Council (SAC), as a criminal military junta, will not implement the ILO Commission report. The very nature of the SAC is contrary to responsible governance, ensuring the rights of workers.

To realize the ILO Resolution for a return to democracy and respect for fundamental rights in Myanmar, adopted by the International Labour Conference on 19th June 2021, and as a follow-up to the report of the Commission of Inquiry of May 2024, which confirms "there is no demonstration of a meaningful understanding on the part of the military authorities of the gravity of the situation and the need for specific and urgent action."

The 112th International Labour Conference (ILC) must ensure to expedite the implementation of the ILO COI recommendations by adopting a Resolution on measures based on ILO Article 33.

To amplify this international demand, the Council of Global Unions will hold a Day of Action on Myanmar on 10th June at 08:30 am in Broken Chair, Geneva, Switzerland.