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Hello,

I am contacting you to enquire what action your corporation is taking to protect the garment workers who make your clothes in Myanmar which are then sold in the UK and other western countries.

As you know, a brutal coup has taken place in Myanmar, with the military overthrowing the democratically elected leaders and killing over a thousand civilian women, children, and men so far. I understand that it is the garment workers (90% of whom are women) who have been on the frontlines of the Civil Disobedience Movement, risking their lives to defend democracy and human rights.

Multinational corporations are a significant source of income for the military junta. The cut-make-pack (CMP) garment sector exports for the fiscal year 2020/21 are reported to value US$3,24 billion. The garment industry in Myanmar constitutes $6bn of annual exports (accounting for more than 30% of exports in 2019) and employs about 700,000 people. 76% are young women who have migrated from rural areas to Yangon. Women send up to half their income home to support their families despite wages for garment workers in Myanmar being among the lowest in the world. The ILO reports that 250,000 workers have lost their jobs since the coup in February 2021.

I am deeply concerned about the violent retaliation from the military, and reports that garment workers and union leaders are being subjected to intimidation and reprisals by the factory owners (your subcontractors) for opposing the military dictatorship. It is reported that employers are denying wages to those protesting and threatening mass dismissal. In some cases, workers have been laid off by factory management and union leaders have been handed over to the military.

A joint statement from the All Burma Federation of Trade Unions (ABFTU) and the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM), released on 15 September 2021, has called on brands, including yours, to cease production in Myanmar. This is a drastic step which no worker would take except in extreme circumstances. Yet as their unions say, the workers of Myanmar have no other choice and little left to lose given the brutal repression and gross violations of their human rights under international law, including their rights as workers.

As a public corporation you have a responsibility to ensure the protection of human rights, and the safety and wellbeing of all the workers engaged in the process of making the commodities that you sell. It is currently impossible for your company to fulfil its responsibility to garment workers in Myanmar. The trade unions, as representatives of the workers employed as part of your production chain, have made it clear that your company must completely withdraw from Myanmar.

We in the international community have a responsibility to increase pressure on the military to end this coup. Corporations, especially if they are multinational, must not ignore their responsibilities and must not collaborate with the military (SAC) any longer, in any way.

These responsibilities extend beyond supporting workers on the factory floor and must encompass the impact of business on the natural world. As the world mobilises to stop climate change, corporations must stop working with the Myanmar dictatorship which is profiteering and funding its crimes from land grabbing, deforestation, and further devastation of the natural environment through scaling up logging, the teak trade, palm oil plantations and jade. Indigenous communities of Myanmar, who protect and care for the land report an escalation of military attacks and environmental destruction since the coup. Western brands must stop funding these attacks immediately by pulling out of Myanmar.

We call on your corporation to:

1. Cease all production in Myanmar as a means to put pressure on the military dictatorship to step down

2. Publicly join the international condemnation of the military coup in Myanmar and call for democracy to be restored.

3. Actively support the trade unions, the Civil Disobedience Movement, their trade unions, and the National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (NUG) in their efforts to stop this brutal military dictatorship.

Please let me and the world know that you are withdrawing from Myanmar and are not ignoring or exploiting the situation.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,