He added that H&M “is extremely concerned about the situation in the country.”
The company’s actions follow a statement from H&M, Inditex, Bestseller and Primark last month in which they stressed that they were paying attention to events and reaffirmed their commitment to democratic standards. The trademarks are all signatories of ACT, or Action, Collaboration, Transformation, an agreement between trademarks and the global trade union IndustriALL. It is intended to ensure that workers who use collective bargaining and freedom of association can negotiate living wages.
Along with government officials, medical and banking workers as well as teachers, Ms. Moe Sandar Myint and other union leaders this week continued to call for a comprehensive nationwide strike, one that would paralyze the economy in Myanmar and send a message to the generals who took it. across the country with gun.
Ma Tin Tin Wei (26) makes men’s jackets for the Italian brand OFS and other brands. She was a garment worker and union leader for four for five years and organized a strike on her factory floor after the coup in which workers wore white blouses and red ribbons and sang famous historical songs and folk songs (a step allowed by the factory management ). She worked just six days in February and spent most of her time at embassies sending letters, thinking about social media campaigns and preparing for the strikes.
“If there have been violations of rights in factories in the past, there is no doubt under a military regime that things will get worse for low-wage garment workers,” she said. “It’s a battle I have to take on. We can not accept this, even if it means we have to risk arrest or death. This is for me, my family, my union colleagues and all the people of Myanmar. ”
According to a recent study, the number of people earning less than $ 1.90 a day in Myanmar has more than tripled, to 63 percent of the population since the pandemic began. Now, after a year of closures, layoffs, remuneration by the Covid-19 induction, tens of thousands of clothing workers have been urged to civil disobedience over the past few weeks as the coup threatens both their freedom and the industry.
Factory owners, however, were torn between workers to attend rallies and face the wrath of the police for allowing it. Many also fear a possible reinstatement of sanctions, and that the growing instability will repel valuable international brands. But a number of garment union leaders have said they are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices – including mass layoffs due to possible sanctions – to defeat the military dictatorship.