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Federation of Trade Unions, Burma (FTUB)

The FTUB is a trade union congress with member unions including the Seafarers Union of Burma (SUB), Handloom Workers Union, Karenni Teachers Union and the Karenni Farmers Union.

FTUB works inside Burma to educate, organize, and strengthen Burmese workers and other pro-democracy groups to assert their rights and push the military regime  to enter substantive tripartite negotiations with the National League for Democracy and the leaders of Burma's ethnic peoples. FTUB conducts outreach and coalition building with sympathetic organizations in the region and around the world, continuing to support the movement for democracy in Burma, as well as education programs on democracy, human rights, and trade union principles in villages and towns throughout the country. The FTUB also seeks to organize democratic trade unions in ethnic areas and publish teaching materials, in a variety of languages, for the concepts of democracy and trade union rights.

Membership card of Myo Aung Thant in the All Burma Petrochemical Workers Union.  Myo Aung Thant is a member of the FTUB Executive Committee and was sentenced to life in prison in 1998 for his labor organization activities inside Burma.

More about the FTUB:

Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively, Chapter 3 of the U.S. Department of Labor Report on Labor Conditions in Burma

Some of the activities of the FTUB:

• FTUB and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions file ILO complaint against Burma for using forced labor

• FTUB sues Unocal Corporation for the use of forced labor on the Yadana Pipeline Project

Affiliate Organizations of FTUB member unions:

• The Seafarers Union of Burma (SUB) is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation

Contact: ftub@hotmail.com