The military regime that rules
Burma, the SPDC, forces hundred
of thousands of people to work
against their will and without pay
on development projects, as
porters in the military, and in other forms of compulsory labor.
Despite its claims to the contrary, the SPDC has continued this
practice.
Up to two million Burmese migrants
live and work in Thailand, of whom
around 250,000 have official work
permits. A major activity of the FTUB
is training and education
of workers. Volunteer organisers, both workers and activists, are paid an
allowance for expenses. Worker representatives are trained and form a contact network for the union.
With assistance from trade unions
in other countries, FTUB provides
education and health care
alongside other organisations
working to alleviate the poverty and
suffering of many millions of Burmese refugees and
migrant workers and their families. FTUB also publish
teaching materials, in a variety of languages, for the concepts
of democracy and trade union rights.
The International Labour Organisation
(ILO) has called on Burma’s
authorities to end the practice of
forced labour since the early 1960’s.In 1997, the SPDC refused to co-
operate with a special ILO Commission of Inquiry into violations byBurma
of the ILO Forced Labour Convention. In early 1998, it refused to
allow the Commission into the country. In its report, the Commission
of Inquiry said forced labour in Burma was a crime against
humanity, likely to continue as long as the military stayed in power.
