Global brands called on to exit Myanmar

Global brands called on to exit Myanmar
Workers make disposable surgical gown at a garment factory in Yangon, Myanmar, 02 May 2020. Photo: EPA

IndustriALL Global Union has called on multinationals doing business in Myanmar to take immediate action to cease their operations, divest, stop placing new orders, and halt business relations in the country, as part of a campaign of comprehensive economic sanctions against the military junta, according to a press release.

The call was made this week.

The actions taken are a consequence of a resolution in support of democracy in Myanmar, unanimously adopted at IndustriALL’s Third Congress on 14 and 15 September 2021, with the participation of 434 trade unions from 111 countries. The resolution calls for comprehensive economic sanctions against the military junta. The decision to call for sanctions was made by the labour movement of Myanmar and supported by trade unions and activists around the world.

IndustriALL’s core message is that human rights violations in the country make it impossible to trade ethically, as companies are not able to guarantee the safety of their workforce.

IndustriALL made the plea in a series of meetings and communications with global companies in the garment, energy and steel industries, as well as with multi-stakeholder initiatives.

The global union wants brands and retailers to step up the pressure on Myanmar in a comprehensive campaign of economic sanctions against the military junta which took over the country in the coup in February.

A UN human rights expert recently warned the General Assembly that “Myanmar could be on the eve of an even greater human rights catastrophe and loss of life amid reports the military junta is deploying tens of thousands of troops and heavy weapons to northern Myanmar”.