(7 June 2025)
The National Unity Government, in its unwavering commitment to uproot the military dictatorship in Myanmar and establish a Federal Democratic Union, is waging a multifaceted revolutionary struggle across political, military, diplomatic, financial, administrative, and public engagement fronts. As part of this national effort, the Ministry of Labour is actively engaging in the political and financial spheres, working in close cooperation with allied global unions, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), to restore Myanmar to the path of democracy through coordinated international action.
In accordance with the Constitution of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Ministry of Labour has taken the lead in forming a tripartite body comprising representatives of the government, employers, and workers. This tripartite body has been consistently working to ensure that effective punitive measures are taken against the military junta through the ILO mechanism and to secure formal recognition of the National Unity Government as the legitimate government of Myanmar by the ILO. As a result of the continued efforts of this tripartite body, a landmark decision was adopted on 5 June 2025 during the plenary sitting of the 113th International Labour Conference (ILC), held from 2 to 13 June 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. This decision imposes strong and effective measures against the military junta under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution.
Since the military’s unlawful seizure of power in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, there has been a clear and ongoing pattern of violations of fundamental labour rights and human rights. In particular, the military junta has blatantly breached core ILO Conventions, notably Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, and Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour. Given the gravity and clarity of these violations, the resolution was adopted at the Conference by overwhelming consensus among ILO Member States.
In pursuit of the resolution to invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to take concrete action against the military junta, the tripartite body led by the Ministry of Labour under the National Unity Government successfully lobbied for the rejection of accreditation for the junta’s representatives and prevented their participation in the 109th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC). Moreover, the Conference’s official conclusions included a strong call for the restoration of Myanmar’s democratic transition and respect for fundamental rights. Due to the tripartite body’s consistent and evidence-based advocacy, the ILO was compelled to establish a Commission of Inquiry (COI) in March 2022—the highest-level investigative mechanism of the ILO—in response to the junta’s egregious violations of fundamental labour rights and its campaign of terror. During the COI’s proceedings, the tripartite body played a critical role in cooperating fully with the Commission by submitting comprehensive evidence of widespread rights violations against workers, including the civil servants involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). As a result, in August 2023, the COI released a landmark report containing urgent and binding recommendations for the junta to immediately cease violations and comply with its international obligations. The military junta, however, not only failed to comply but escalated its abuses, including unlawful conscription, daily aerial bombardments against civilians, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings. The tripartite body has consistently submitted detailed reports and verified evidence of these atrocities to the ILO, which have played a decisive role in informing and supporting the adoption of the Article 33 action against the junta.
The resolution adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) under Article 33 includes direct and targeted measures against the military junta. It primarily calls on ILO Member States to review their engagement and cooperation with the junta, and to refrain from providing aviation fuel, military equipment, and financial transactions that could contribute to the junta’s repression and violations of fundamental rights against the people. This resolution constitutes a powerful blow to the military junta within the political and financial fronts of the revolutionary struggle, which our Ministry has been actively leading. It significantly contributes to the broader effort to dismantle the military dictatorship at its roots. Therefore, the adoption of the Article 33 measures by the ILO stands as a major victory for the people of Myanmar.
The Ministry of Labour of the National Unity Government extends its deepest gratitude to all partners who played an instrumental role in the adoption of the resolution under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution. In particular, we wish to acknowledge the tireless efforts of the tripartite partners working alongside our Ministry under the National Unity Government—namely, the Myanmar Labour Alliance (MLA), the Myanmar Employers’ Organization (MEO), and the Myanmar Employers’ Federation (MEF) — the Overseas Irrawaddy Association (OIA) and Mondiaal FNV, who actively collaborated in collecting, compiling, and submitting evidence of the military junta’s egregious violations of fundamental rights, are gratefully acknowledged for their critical contributions as well as the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), and other global trade union federations and employers’ organizations, who provided crucial support—including enabling the participation of the tripartite representatives of the National Unity Government at the Conference—are sincerely and profoundly appreciated. Most importantly, we express our heartfelt appreciation to the ILO and its Member States who stood firmly with the people of Myanmar in this struggle for justice, by supporting the resolution without the need for a vote—recognizing the junta’s blatant crimes and siding unequivocally with the cause of freedom, rights, and democracy in Myanmar. We are proud of this solidarity and deeply honoured by the strength of these partnerships.
We respectfully encourage all partners to continue their constructive engagement in supporting the effective implementation of practical measures in line with the adopted resolution against the military junta, and advancing efforts toward the formal recognition of the National Unity Government’s tripartite representation within the framework of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Ministry of Labour