Myanmar: call to textile companies for action in the face of repression on workers opposing the military coup

Six weeks after Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military, opposition to the coup is not weakening, in spite of increasingly harsh repressive action, which, according to the UN, has resulted in 149 deaths and hundreds of missing persons. Local textile industry subcontractors are accused of siding with the military backed powers and firing factory workers who are mobilizing in protest against the coup. Textile industry multinationals, which make massive recourse to garment supplies from Myanmar, are under increasing pressure from local NGOs and trade unions to support those resisting the coup.
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Mobilization in textile factories. According to worker testimonies communicated to The Guardian newspaper publication, nearly 1,000 workers employed by GY Sen, which supplies Primark, were locked up for several hours inside the factory during a demonstration against the regime in February. GY Sen denied these allegations. Nearly 20 workers were subsequently fired for taking part in the protest rally. ‘If the factory is found to have breached our code [of conduct], we will work with the supplier

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