Cas individuel (CAS) - Discussion : 1993, Publication : 80ème session CIT (1993)

Convention (n° 87) sur la liberté syndicale et la protection du droit syndical, 1948 - Myanmar (Ratification: 1955)

A Government representative first referred to the oral and written communications which the Government had provided to this Committee in 1992, and added that a National Convention composed of some 700 delegates, including elected representatives as well as representatives of the political parties, the national races, civil servants, workers, peasants, the intelligentsia and other invited persons had been convened and started on 9 January 1993. The purpose of the National Convention was to lay down the basic principles of a new Constitution that would ensure fundamental rights, including those of workers. After the emergence of the new Constitution, various laws would have to be reviewed so as to be brought into line with it. However, during the transitional period the workers' rights were being ensured by the legislation still in force. At the same time, labour laws reflecting the democratic principles pertaining to workers had been drafted. He stated that new labour laws reflecting the principles of the Convention, to which the Government had referred in last year's report, and which replaced old ones concerning the formation of workers' organizations, had been submitted to the appropriate authorities and were now under consideration. His Government would inform the ILO in due course of progress in the framing of the new Constitution and the new labour laws.

The Workers' members, after expressing their wish to discuss this Convention regarding Myanmar next year, pointed out that this was a long-standing case and recalled that a Government representative had mentioned two years ago the "drastic" change from socialism to multi-party democracy which had taken place in 1988. They thought that the people of Myanmar had been "freed" from the single-party system into a system under martial law, where human rights violations, such as murder, torture, imprisonment and forced labour, were tolerated and perhaps even sanctioned. They noted that the Government representative's statement did not differ from the statement at the Committee in 1992 regarding the drafting of the Constitution and the redrafting of the Trade Union Act. They were of the opinion that there was no freedom of association in the country or hardly any trade union movement; trade unionists who criticized the Government were imprisoned, the Members of Parliament elected in May 1990 had not been allowed to convene, many of whom were in prison, disqualified or had fled the country. In view of the seriousness of the case and the fact that no progress had been made since 1989 and that there was no commitment to the required changes, the Workers' members proposed to mention the case in a special paragraph of the Committee's report.

The Employers' members pointed out that the subject here was the legislation of 1976 which provided for a monopoly of trade union rights and the corresponding practice, which both represented a clear infringement of the Convention. They also recalled that the case had been discussed for a long time and that the Government representative had repeated that the country was in the process of transition and of revising the legislation. They considered such a comment too general and too weak in light of the gravity of the situation. They were of the opinion that more specific commitment to changing not only the legislation but also the practice was needed. Given the little progress made in the length of time, the Employers' members agreed to the proposal of recourse to a special paragraph.

The Workers' member of the United States emphasized the urgency of the case, referring to the violation of human and trade union rights in the country including arrests of labour activists. He expressed concern about the ideas of some Asian countries that economic development should precede the development of human and trade union rights. He noted that despite the difficult circumstances a free union was operating in those areas where government control was weak, and clandestinely in other areas. He supported the call for a special paragraph in view of the serious situation.

The Workers' member of Japan pointed out that the Workers' representative of Myanmar to the present Conference was a "supervisor" and not a trade union representative. He noted that no progress had been made despite the repeated assurances by the Government, and he supported the inclusion of this case in a special paragraph.

The Workers' member of Pakistan agreed with the previous speakers in noting little progress and in requesting a special paragraph. He urged that the Government should inform the Office of any developments in this matter.

The Government representative first denied that workers were arrested or tortured for trade union activities. He stated that the so-called trade union operating on the border areas was a creation of terrorist groups outside the territory of Myanmar and did not represent any worker in Myanmar. He repeated that the transitional process to a democratic multi-party system and the abolition of the monopoly of trade unions was taking time and preparation. He was opposed to the allegation that elected representatives were imprisoned and stressed that the drafting of the Constitution was going ahead. He repeated that the single trade union no longer existed and that steps had been taken to adopt legislation which would take into account the principles of freedom of association.

The Committee took note of the information repeated by the Government representative according to which his Government was committed to a process of change in the country's legislation in order to guarantee trade union rights. Nevertheless, the Committee recalled that the Committee of Experts and the Conference Committee had indicated to the Government, over a period of several years, the provisions of the legislation requiring amendment and up to now these changes in the legislation had not been made. Consequently, the Committee expressed its deep concern and firmly urged the Government to adopt, in the very near future, the necessary measures in legislation and practice to guarantee to all workers and all employers without any distinction and without prior authorization the right to organize even outside the existing trade union structure should they so wish. The Committee trusted that it would be able to take note of substantial progress in the application of the Convention and requested the Government to transmit relevant detailed information in its next report. The Committee decided to include this case in a special paragraph of its General Report.