Political developments throughout 2012 have opened a door for the international trade union movement to engage with Burmese workers to support the development of strong and representative unions. In August 2012, the government removed some 2,000 people from a black-list of over 6,000 banned from entering the country, including trade unionists. This allowed the return to Burma of Maung Maung, the General Secretary of the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB). The Government also now allows groups of workers to register legally which leads to the mushrooming of workers associations. At the same time, the Government is cancelling the discharges for union activity which has a severe effect on organizing, especially in the public sector. Another issue of concern is the reformed labour law which is ambiguous regarding essential services. This could potentially negatively affect freedom of association for public service workers and teachers.
EI joined and contributed to a Council of Global Unions initiative to coordinate union work in Burma. EI has been in contact with teachers in refugee camps over the years and some affiliates provided humanitarian and other support, including to migrant ethnic organised teachers. At the last meeting of the EI Regional Committee for Asia-Pacific in July 2012, Maung Maung reported about teachers’ organisations having applied for registration to the confederation. The regional office has information about at least four legally registered teacher groups in individual education institutions, incl universities, around Rangoon and Mandalay. In early October, the EI Chief Regional Coordinator visited Burma for an exploratory fact finding mission aiming at bringing existing teacher groups to work together as provincial and possibly national organisations.