1. The Ministry of Labour has learnt that the new report ILO Brief under the name of Riding out the storm: Organizational resilience of trade unions and civil society organizations following the military takeover in Myanmar at its Website.
2. The ILO Brief expressed the arrest and harassment of trade union leaders in Myanmar and stated “the Ministry of Labour declared 16 trade unions as illegal labour organizations, there is no more unionizing of workers because there is no way to legally register as a trade union”.
3. Myanmar enacted the Labour Organization Law in 2011 according to Convention No 87 of Freedom of Association and it was effective on 9-3-2012.
4. The labour organizations shall register under the provisions of Labour Organization Law if they want to organize trade unions to carry out labour affairs, and the registered labour organizations can unionize workers freely under the provisions of the Labour Organization Law.
5. Moreover, anyone who launches terrorist acts and activities that cause unrest affecting the rule of law and security of the country will be taken action under the existing laws.
6. The ministry did not declare the 16 trade unions as “illegal organizations”, but because they were operating labour affairs without registering as trade unions at the Ministry of Labour according to the 2011 Labour Organization Law, and so they were declared as the ones that were not registered legally according to the Labour Organization Law.
7. After 1-2-2021, the employees applied for registration of trade union at the respective township registrars and the Chief Registrar under the 2011 Labour Organization Law as usual. The certificates were granted to 26 basic labour organizations, one township labour organization and two region labour organizations between 1-2-2021 and 30-8-2022. There was the formation of new labour organizations without any restrictions under the existing laws.
8. The registration certificates were granted to 3,100 organizations – 2,876 basic labour organizations, 160 township labour organizations, 25 region/state labour organizations, nine labour federations, one confederation of trade unions of Myanmar, 27 basic employers’ organizations, one township employers’ organization and one employers’ federation according to the 2011 Labour Organization Law from 2012 to date.
9. Therefore, the ministry strongly objects to the unreal facts in the ILO website that “16 trade unions were declared as illegal labour organizations” and “there is no more unionizing of workers and any organizing activity would be considered illegal by the authorities”, as stated in ILO Brief under the title of Riding out the storm: Organizational resilience of trade unions and civil society organizations following the military takeover in Myanmar.
Ministry of Labour
2 September 2022
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