Yangon (ILO News) - The ILO’s Garment Industry Project (ILO-GIP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), affiliated to the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), and with the Myanmar Industries Craft and Services (MICS) to cooperate in a trade union capacity building programme over the next 12 months.

“Having sound internal structures is key for strong and representative trade unions. Honing trade unions’ skills to put freedom of association and collective bargaining into practice is essential for responsible and sound industrial relations”, said ILO Liaison Officer in Myanmar Rory Mungoven, as he signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Over 30 selected trade unionists from IWFM and MICS will participate in a training programme offered by the ILO-GIP, comprising eight training modules, focusing on the principles of the basic functioning of a trade union, foundations of freedom of association, collective bargaining and workplace cooperation, and trade union financial and democratic management. The ILO-GIP has similar capacity building activities for management representatives of the project’s participating factories.

As part of the MoU, IWFM and MICS, which represent almost 20,000 garment workers in Myanmar, commit to replicate the training beyond the initial capacity building programme offered by the ILO. Accordingly, the participants of the programme in turn will deliver training to members of selected Basic Labour Organizations (BLOs) and township level union leaders affiliated to their organizations.

“By replicating the training to members of BLOs, we will improve the services provided by these organizations at the factory level, and these will surely contribute to an increased number of collective bargaining agreements and cases of successful dispute resolution”, stressed U Thet Hnin Aung, President of MICS.
 
“Reforming internal union administration and acquiring sound knowledge of the labour organization laws, as well as the settlement labour dispute law, will improve the way we assist our members and ultimately attain social justice in our country”, said Khaing Zar Aung, President of IWFM.