GB.340/INS/12/decision

Decision concerning the progress report on the follow-up to the resolution concerning remaining measures on the subject of Myanmar adopted by the Conference at its 102nd Session (2013)

Record of decisions | 13 November 2020
The Governing Body:
 

(a) acknowledged that some progress had been made by the Government, and through the efforts of the social partners, since March 2019 in implementing the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) and strongly urged the Government to continue to cooperate with the ILO and social partners to step up its efforts to establish a credible and effective national complaints mechanism;

(b) called for further efforts to ensure that the views of social partners are fully taken into account in the process of labour law reform and that any amendments to laws are consistent with the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), with special attention given to the protection of labour rights during the COVID-19 pandemic;

(c) urged the Government to step up its efforts with Parliament to amend article 359 of its Constitution in order to bring it into conformity with the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and to strengthen parliamentary oversight functions relating to forced labour;

(d) expressed concern at the charges made against eight trade unionists under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law and the use of the Law by the authorities as a means of denying trade unions the right to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of association; and requested the Government to repeal the Disciplines set by the Pyigyitagon Township in Mandalay and those disciplines set by other townships in Mandalay Region which prevent persons living outside the region from staging a peaceful assembly or procession in Mandalay, and to specify the principles of freedom of association and freedom of assembly in the new draft Labour and Employer Organization Law;

(e) called on Member States to support resource mobilization efforts to enable the effective implementation of the DWCP in Myanmar, in particular taking into account the COVID-19 situation and its implications on the elimination of forced labour and the worst forms of child labour, the establishment of a credible national complaints mechanism and the strengthening of the labour inspection system to ensure the effective enforcement of labour laws.

(GB.340/INS/12, paragraph 42, as amended by the Governing Body)