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Call for donations for trade union members and employees in Myanmar

Since the military coup on 1 February 2021, people in Myanmar have been resisting the military takeover, with street rallies, strikes and noise protests. Workers from all sectors of the economy join the protests and the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Textile workers also follow the resistance to restore democracy and call for international solidarity.

Call for donations for trade union members and employees in Myanmar

The military has arrested trade unionists and workers to break the resistance, houses of activists are burned down, trade unionists flee across the border to Thailand or hide in the jungles of northern Myanmar. Thousands of people have been killed, over 10,000 have been arrested, and many more have to hide. About 250,000 people were displaced within the country.

Since the military coup, FEMNET has transferred donations of over EUR 10,000 to the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM). In 2022 alone, around 800 trade unionists/textile workers were supported with their families. The activists still need our solidarity. That is why we call donations under the heading ‘Myanmar’.

Together with trade unions in Myanmar, FEMNET is committed to a responsible withdrawal of all clothing companies from the country. More and more large companies are withdrawing, most recently announced by H&M in August 2023, following evidence of wage theft and unjustified layoffs from its producers. FEMNET also demands that the EU withdraw Myanmar from duty-free export to the EU under the Everything but Arms Agreement (EBA), because this privilege can only be granted to democratic governments and not dictatorships.

 

Freedom and Justice for Myanmar - Article by Khaing Zar Aung, President of the IMFM trade union in the online debate magazine of the DGB

 

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