BCTGM and IUF Affiliates Pay Solidarity Visit to Myanmar Embassy
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14 Mar BCTGM and IUF Affiliates Pay Solidarity Visit to Myanmar Embassy

Posted at 14:34h in International News, IUF, Solidarity by

The BCTGM was among a delegation representing the IUF to deliver letters of protest to the Myanamar Embassy in Washington D.C. demanding the release of six hotel workers jailed for union activity in Myanamar.

On March 1, the chairman and five other leaders and members of the union of workers at the Hotel Tharabar Gate in Myanamar’s Bagan Archeological Zone were convicted of attempting to hold a peaceful protest march after police brutally destroyed the union’s solidarity camp last December. The trade unionists were each sentenced to one month’s imprisonment and arrested immediately after the verdict was pronounced, an unmistakable announcement by the authorities that trade union activity in Myanmar is now criminalized.

BCTGM International Union President David Durkee’s letter toย Minister of Home Affairs ofย Myanmar states:

The ILO has repeatedly confirmed the right to peaceful assembly and protest as a right protected under the right to freedom of association.

The speed of the March 1 sentencing and immediate imprisonment of 6 trade unionists who were peacefully engaged in a labour dispute, raises serious questions about the political motivations behind the courtโ€™s ruling.

We therefore call on your Ministry to ensure that the March 1 sentences against the 6 trade union members are unconditionally reversed and that they are released immediately. Rather than imprisoning trade unionists, the government must take effective action to assist in resolving the dispute at the Hotel Tharabar Gate in a manner whichย protects the rights of all trade union members and officers at the establishment, commencing with the unconditional reinstatement of the union members and officers unfairly dismissed in August 2018, recognition of the rights of the union and its members and good faith negotiations between HLOB and the hotel management.

You can read President Durkee’s full letter here.

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