International Trade Union Confederation

The right to freedom of association is recognised by law but strictly regulated.

The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.

Prior authorisation or approval by authorities required for the establishment of a union: The 1988 Order 6/88, known as the Law on the Formation of Associations and Organisations, states that all "organisations shall apply for permission to exist to the Ministry of Home and Religious Affairs". The definition of "organisation" in the Order is extremely detailed and sweeping, Penalties provided in the Order for punishing violations are particularly harsh and may entail imprisonment of up to five years. The Government stated that currently this law does not apply to workers' organizations.

Single trade union system imposed by law and/or a system banning or limiting organising at a certain level (enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and/or territorial, national): The 1964 Law Defining the Fundamental Rights and Responsibilities of the People’s Workers establishes a compulsory and single trade union system for the organisation and representation of workers. However, the Labour Organizations Law still appears to refer to a single labour confederation system.

Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom: Art. 7 of the Labour Organization Law sets the minimum and maximum of representatives on the executive committee at the local, township/regional/federation and confederation level.(3) Furthermore, Art. 5 of the decree of the Labour Organization Law provides that the term of the executive committee is 2 years, and it is unclear whether executive committee members can run for consecutive terms in office.

Excessive representativity or minimum number of members required for the establishment of a union: The Labour Organization Law of 2011 (Art. 4) requires a minimum of 30 workers in the relevant trade or activity to form a trade union together with the support of not less than 10 percent of all workers of the relevant trade or activity. Regional organizations and federations may be formed with the 10% of trade unions and 20% of Federations is required to form the Myanmar Labour Confederation. Furthermore, each stage of the building process from basic enterprise level to national federation and confederation has to be related to a common trade or activity. These requirements seriously challenge the capacity of workers to form organizations. In particular, the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma has so far not been able to register.

Restrictions on workers’ right to join the trade union of their choosing imposed by law (i.e. obligation to join a trade union of a certain level e.g. enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and /or territorial national): According to Article 3 (b) of the Labour Organizations Law, workers can only join organizations of the category of trade or activity related to them. The definition of trade or activity is confusing and could be determined in a arbitrary manner.

Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes: (1) The Labour Organizations Law, Article 25, provides that the monthly contribution by the worker who is a member of the organization shall not exceed two percent of the wages or salary obtained. (2) In addition, the basic labour organization shall allocate these monthly contributions to the higher labour organizations, federations and confederation as prescribed by the relevant labour federation.

Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations: According to the Labour Organization Law of 2011 (Art. 33.b) the Registrar has the power to de-register a trade union if the members do not reach the prescribed minimum numbers (30 - 10%). The support of no-less than 10% of all workers of the relevant trade or activity may be assessed on a discretionary power.

The right to collective bargaining is not protected in law.

Imposition of fixed and unreasonable procedural requirements (e.g. short time-limits for reaching an agreement): The Settlement of Labour Dispute Law (Art. 6 and 7) provides that the parties must reach an agreement within 5 days. After that the dispute is submitted to a procedure of conciliation and arbitration.

The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.

Restrictions with respect to the objective of a strike (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons): Art. 41.d of the Labour Organization Law provides that strikes not relevant to the labour affairs, such as wages, salaries, welfare and working hours or other matters relating to the occupational interest of the workers, shall be illegal. This definition may lead to the prohibition of protest strikes and other types of strikes.

Excessive representativity or minimum number of members required to hold a lawful strike: According to the provisions of the Labour Organization Law (Art. 38), the trade union desirous to go on strike shall obtain the approval of the majority of the member workers. It is not clear whether this refers only to those taking part in the poll.

Other excessively complex or time-consuming formalities to call a strike: The Labour Organization Law (Art. 41.e) provides that to obtain permission for a strike the organizers must provide information such as the date, place, time, period, number of participants.

Other legal provisions undermining the right to strike: The Labour Organization Law (Art. 41.e) provides that the strike not being in conformity with the date, place, time, period, number of participants and manner as obtained permission in advance may be declared illegal.

Other undue, unreasonable or unjustified prerequisites: The Labour Organization Law (Art. 41.d) prescribes that trade unions cannot go on strike without permission of the relevant labour federation.

Building Workers’ Power