Report: Will new unions translate into new rights?

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12 | International Union Rights | 23/3 REPORT | MYANMAR Will new unions translate into new rights? The past four years have seen the birth of a new union movement in Myanmar, after 60 years of brutal suppression of labour rights. More than 2000 labour organisations (unions) have been registered under the Labour Organisation Law (LOL), mostly small unions at enterprise level and concentrated in the agricultural, freight handling and manufacturing sectors, and with an estimated total membership of more than 100,000 workers1. Given the history of oppression and the continuing hostility from many employers, this is a remarkable achievement, and reflects the determination of workers to exercise their new rights to associate, organise and negotiate. Many of them are young factory workers struggling to understand the law and their role, and to meet the expectations of their members in a very difficult environment. Despite the rather restrictive and inflexible provisions of the LOL a union movement is developing, with 115 township unions, 14 regional unions, 8 federations and one national confederation (the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar, CTUM) having also been registered. The union movement is fragmented, and organised under three dominant federations: the CTUM, the Federation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (MTUF), and the Agricultural and Farmers Federation of Myanmar (AFFM). The main education and training regarding the LOL, and the freedom of association rights it introduced, has been undertaken by the International Labour Organisation’s Freedom of Association Project which was quickly developed in 2012 but which came to an end suddenly earlier this year. It was very appropriate that the ILO should lead this work given that it, led by the Workers Group within, developed the pressure on the Myanmar Government to legislate for these fundamental rights. The ILO project launched an awareness raising campaign with education and advice for workers, government officials, and employers, but the core of the programme were bi-partite training workshops for the leaders of the new unions and their employers. Building a new base for industrial relations The new leaders took their first real steps as a national movement when they came together at the Labour Organisation Leaders’ Forum in Yangon in April 2013. More than 363 registered labour organisations were represented, along with more than 100 related organisations, at this historic event which was the largest conference of elected worker representatives in more than 60 years. Although the conference was dominated by the debates and voting processes relating to the election of a Worker Delegate to the ILO, there was keen interest by the union leaders in the Forum workshops on organising skills, collective bargaining and workplace health and safety. Delegates voiced their frustration at the lack of recognition and respect from employers for their role as the voice, and negotiators for, the workers they represented. The ILO bi-partite workshops promoted a development model which builds constructive dialogue, including collective bargaining, at enterprise, industry and national level between the new unions, employers and (where appropriate) government. The model was founded on freedom of association and other labour rights and had a strong focus on building value, profitability and workers’ incomes as a common objective. It also promoted union participation in industry development programmes which are benchmarked to labour standards, skill development and skillbased pay systems. Employer resistance However, few employers have been willing to recognise that the legal and political environment was changing and there has been only limited business commitment to building such an industrial relations system. As at 31 July 2016 only 30 employer organisations have registered under the LOL and many employers have not only declined to recognise the workers’ rights but have been actively hostile to union organising activity. This has included widespread dismissal of workers for union organising and participation. The already slim prospect of building a sound industrial relations system has been further undermined by the contempt which many employers have shown for the authority of the Arbitration Council by refusing to comply with its orders reinstating workers who have been unlawfully dismissed. The disputes processes established under the counterpart Settlement of Labour Disputes Law have been widely used by workers but their credibility has been seriously damaged by the inability of...