Do workers’ representatives not face reprisals?
Twenty-eight FTUB members are currently serving long prison sentences because of their trade union activities. So there are risks, but at the moment, when representatives speak, all the other workers sit behind them. It provides the representatives with a physical presence, a source of support. We have seen cases where a representative has been fired on one pretext or another, for having arrived late, for example, but the workers protest, saying that if he is late, they are all late. Collective movements are therefore taking shape in workplaces. What activities does the FTUB conduct outside of Burma? Our main task is to raise awareness about the rights of workers living in Burma, through media interviews, for example. We are working with the international trade union movement, the ITUC in particular, but also with a number of global union federations. The SUB (Seafarers Union of Burma), for example, is now affiliated to the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation). The ITF has
