Garment workers in Myanmar fight for democracy, livelihoods
NEW YORK (AP) — Tin Tin Wei used to toil 11 hours a day, six days week sewing jackets at a factory in Myanmar. But following the military coup in early February, she hasn't stitched a single garment.
Instead, she has been protesting on the streets and helping to mobilize the fight for democracy.
Tin Tin Wei, 26, is an organizer for the Federation of Garment Workers in Myanmar, one of the largest clothing unions in the country. She is among the throngs of young workers urging major international brands like H&M, Adidas and Mango, which source some of their products in Myanmar, to denounce the coup and put more pressure on factories to protect workers from being fired or harassed — or worse arrested and killed for participating in the protests.
“If we go back to work and if we work for the system, our future is in the darkness and we will lose our labor rights and even our human rights,” said Tin Tin Wei, who has been a clothing factory worker since age 13.
The response from companies so far has been mixed. Only a few have said they would curtail their business in Myanmar. Most others have put out statements that stop short of taking action, saying that while they denounce the coup, they want to support the workers by providing them with jobs.
Tin Tin Wei's union and the Confederation of Trade Unions in Myanmar have been staging general strikes to choke Myanmar's economy by demanding international comprehensive sanctions, not targeted sanctions, to bring down the junta that ousted the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Such broad sanctions would cripple Myanmar's burgeoning clothing industry that has been growing rapidly in recent years before the pandemic cut orders and eliminated jobs. As international sanctions were dropped in the mid-2010s, Western brands looking to diversify their sourcing were...
