Mizzima

By Ko Dee

November 27, 2006 - For the first time Burmese labour rights activists highlighted the deteriorating rights situation of Burmese workers, especially that of Burmese women workers, at a conference o­n Asian Women held in Kuala Lumpur today. The Committee for Burmese Workers in Malaysia (CBWM) today intervened at a conference organized by the Committee for Asian Women and highlighted the worsening situation of Burmese workers both inside and abroad.Ko Latt, President of the CBWM said, "We were able to highlight how the rights of Burmese migrants are being abused."

Labour Resource Centre (LRC)

Alvin Yap24 Nov 2006

The impact of trade liberalisation and globalisation in Asia is seeing more women being discriminated against and mistreated in their workplace, says a conference of women workers group in Kuala Lumpur today.They are also labelled as human capital in the production of goods and services in a labour market which is increasing becoming informal and women workers are abused and discriminated against.

"Women in Malaysia are meeting the labour shortage and this term used in the Ninth Malaysia Plan and the World Bank is incorrect. We are not 'human capital'. Women workers must be seen as people and not human capital in globalisation," said Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez at the Committee for Asian Women (CAW) regional conference.

Friday November 24, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: Globalization is increasingly eroding the rights of Asia's working women, who are falling victim to weaker legal protection, gender prejudices and poor working conditions, a women's group said Friday. Women are seen as "dispensable labour,'' and because they are not regarded as the breadwinner, are often the first to be laid off, said the Committee for Asian Women, a regional rights body of 39 groups representing female workers in Asia. Although women make up more than half the work force in Asia, "this has not led to more empowerment for women at work or at home,'' CAW chairman, Jurgette Honculada, said at the opening of a four-day conference in Kuala Lumpur o­n Asia's working women. She said foreign direct investment into Asian countries in the past 20 years has promoted labor-intensive industrialization, with a "feminization'' of labor as women have predominantly filled the low-income jobs. In South Asian and Mekong countries, an increasing trend to hire women in "informal'' positions as contract workers or temporary staff has seen a decline in social security protection for working women, Honculada said. "In many Asian countries, growing unemployment and the trend towards the shrinking of the formal labor force in favor of an informal labor force has resulted in a significant loss of labor movement membership. All these threaten worker rights and weaken the bargaining power of workers,'' she said. CAW aims "to create a voice for women workers in Asia,'' coordinating officer Lucia Jayaseelan told reporters. "We want to use all our resources to build trade union movements.'' Some 90 delegates from 13 countries are attending the conference to discuss the rights of women workers, security and livelihood, working conditions for migrant women workers, and the situation of women in the work force in fundamentalist and autocratic regimes in Asia.
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To find the situation of workers and women after the 1 Feb royal proclamation in Nepal

CAW and TIE Asia organised a Fact Finding Mission to Nepal from 10-17th Sept 2005.

The Focus of the Investigation was to find

1) the implications of the political suppression to the women and workers (in relation to their livelihood and civil and political rights such as as well the rights to assembly, association and organizing, free expression)

2) the current situation of those being arrested or being released or those being monitored- the women and workers leaders.

3) the current efforts that are happening inside Nepal - the women and trade union movement in response to the current crisis. How can international solidarity be developed in line with the local struggle's efforts.

1) Organizations that are being attacked , especially

the women and workers organizations

2) Ex detainees (the women and trade union

activists/leaders) and those are being targeted

3) Civil society

4) Student and youth organisations

During this period, CAW staff also participated in the Wider National Workers Conference: Building Workers' Solidarity and Democracy, being organised by GEFONT (CWWD-Gefont is oญne of CAW�s network members) with other federations (NTUC/DECONT/NTU: General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Democratic Confederation of Nepalese Trade Unions (DECONT) and Teachers Union of Nepal (TUN)) from 10-12th September 2005.

(refer: http://www.gefont.org/events/wider_conference/index.htm).

The conference ended at the 12 Sept with the declaration of workers' road-map at the end. It declared common struggle agenda of workers and democracy among all workers to fight and safeguard workers rights and democracy. The labour movement agreed in unison to safeguard workers rights, and restoration of democracry in Nepal.

There were 1500 representatives representing different trade and industries. They will converge in Kathmandu from east to west and hills to plain Terai.

For more informations of the final declaration, please see

http://www.gefont.org/events/wider_conference/Declaration%20Eng.doc

For the special resolution, see

http://www.gefont.org/events/wider_conference/Special%20Resolution.doc

CAW staff also participated, along with the Tie Asia staff, in the mass rally and meeting oญn 10^th September addressed by various dignitaries of trade union movement including Mr. Jim Baker- the Director of ILO-ACTRAV, General Secretary of ICFTU-APRO, International officer , of ICEM Mr. Phee Jung -Sun, Sub regional representative of International Metalworker Federation, and Ms. Leyla Tegmo-Reddy, the Director of ILO office in Nepal.

CAW secretariat had a team building exercise from 5-7 September 2005 in a lovely, tranquil resort an hour from Bangkok. The team strengthening effort was facilitated by Ouyporn Khuankaew who used yoga, meditation and games and sharing as ways to bring out the best of the team.

Committee for Asian Women along with SUMAPI (Association and Linkage of Domestic Workers in the Philippines) will organise Asian Domestic Workers Network (ADWN) Study Tour from 3-7 October, 2005. The program will incorporate a discussion and planning oญn joint regional strategy for future joint action to lobby and push for the law reform for the domestic workers.

Domestic Workers� organisations from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the

Philippines will participate in the discussions.

CAW has a new intern, Liu, Wan-Ling, for a period of three months from August-October 2005. Liu has been sent by Ching-Jen Labor Health and Safety Service Center, Taiwan. She is working oญn the issue of the working conditions and labor situation in Taiwanese investments in Thailand. Due to bad workign conditions in many Taiwanese factories inside Taiwan and outside, Ching Jen staff decided to learn more about the working conditions and labor situation of the laborers who working in Taiwanese investments abroad, so that they could take the information back to Taiwan for propaganda. Then through showing the realistic picture of labor abuses in Taiwanese investments abroad, they can have an opportunity to strive for the support from labor and general public in Taiwan. Ching Jen is mainly focussing oญn the workers in electronics, garment and textile industries, most of whom are women workers. They approached CAW for support to an intern.

The World Social Forum in 2006 will be organized as a Polycentric Forum

-- an event that will take place in various parts of the world rather than in oญne location. An Asian Assembly oญn WSF 2006 was held last June to plan for the Asia

process. The Assembly adopted a resolution to hold two (2) WSF 2006

Polycentric Forums in Asia: oญne to be held in January 2006 in Karachi,

Pakistan and another to be held in Southeast/East Asia sometime May to

July 2006. The latter was a proposal from the caucus of Southeast and East Asian

groups who attended the Asian Assembly. The caucus also agreed to hold

a meeting again oญn August 16, 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand to start the planning and preparatory process for the Polycentric Forum that will be held in Southeast/East Asia. All social movements, organizations and NGOs from the region who wish to be part of this process were invited to attend. Among the first decisions to be made is venue (country) and date.

CAW staff attended this m eeting and are partcipating in discussions oญn the possibility of organising the WSF in Thailand. The other options are Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines (as per discussions among representative groups in this meeting).