Japan and South Korea trade unions press companies to cut Myanmar junta ties

Mizzima

Trade unions in Japan and South Korea, affiliated with Public Services International (PSI), are pressuring companies to cut ties with Myanmar’s quasi-civilian junta.

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The national coordination committees of trade unions affiliated with Public Services International (PSI) in Japan and South Korea are demanding action against the illegal Myanmar junta’s corporate backers, following the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) decision last year to impose sanctions against the junta under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution, the highest level of action available to the organisation.

The PSI Japan Council has written directly to KDDI Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and their unions. KDDI and Sumitomo are part of the Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) joint operation. MPT is a state-owned enterprise illegally under junta control that is used as a tool for surveillance and censorship.

The PSI Japan Council is calling on trade unions at KDDI and Sumitomo to raise the issue at management council meetings and ask the companies to explain their human rights due diligence in Myanmar and where they stand on considering withdrawal.

The PSI Korea Council has written to the National Pension Service urging it to divest from POSCO. POSCO has a steel joint venture with the military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited and the POSCO subsidiary, POSCO International, operates the Shwe gas project, which is a major source of foreign revenue for the junta.

These actions are part of PSI’s wider global campaign targeting companies identified by Justice For Myanmar for divestment, including PTT/PTTEP, GAIL, ONGC, BEL, Sinotruk and AviChina that provide funds, arms or technology to the junta and whose shares may be held in workers’ pension savings worldwide.