The 2011 Labour Organisation Law regulates collective industrial relations including
trade unions, employers’ associations, collective actions and lockouts. The law us-
4
es industry/occupation and geographic categories such as: basic labour organisations at
company level in same trade or activities; township labour organisations and regional or
state labour organisations at township and regional level in same trade or activities; labour
federation above in same trade or activities; and Myanmar labour confederation at national
level. Labour organisations of all the levels should be legally registered with requirements
such as: minimum 30 workers or 10% of workers in the case of smaller than 30-employee
workplaces for basic labour organisation: minimum 10% of lower level organisations for
township/ state and regional labour organisations and federations; and minimum 20% of all
the federations for confederation. The law also allows for employers to organise in parallel
structures.
Although the law states the rights of collective bargaining of the labour organisations, it
does not mention the responsibility of employers on this matter. The law allows strikes for
labour organisations but requires permission of labour federation in advance - 14 days for
public utility service industry and 3 days for others. The law also allows employers’ lockout
but with permission of the relevant conciliation body at least 14 days in advance. However,
both lockout and strike will be illegal in the essential service sectors such as water, electricity,
health and telecommunication and even a non-essential service may become an essential
service (article 41 (a)) depending on the situation. In addition, it bans strikes or lockouts
during the dispute settlement process, and prohibits dismissal of the members due to
collective actions.
Dispute Resolution System
The Settlement of Labour Dispute Law was promulgated in 2012 shortly after the Labour
Organisation Law, which repealed the 1926 Trade Dispute Act. The individual dispute
may start at a workplace coordinating committee, go to the township conciliation body and
end at the competent courts if conciliation is not successful. Collective dispute cases pass
through arbitration processes in addition to negotiation and conciliation such as: the workplace
coordinating committee (negotiation): the township conciliation body (conciliation):
the regional/state arbitration body, the arbitration council, and the tribunal (arbitration).
For this end, the law requires formation of all these mechanism to deal with industrial
disputes. The workplace coordinating committee composed of 4 members in equal numbers
representing an employer and a union (or workers if no union) should be established
in a workplace with more than 30 employees. It shall deal with negotiating and concluding
collective agreement and grievances at workplaces. Township Conciliation Body is formed
by regional/state authorities and dealing with conciliation. If the unsettled case is a case of
collective dispute, the case is handed over to the Regional/State Arbitration Body, which
makes a decision on the case. With the decision, the parties in the non-essential service
have two choices: to go for strikes by workers or lock-out for employers: or to appeal to the
Arbitrary Council for a Tribunal, which are set up and administrated by the central government.
Please refer to the table above for the detail of each body.
However, the decision in these processes is not legally binding and the dis-satisfied
party would begin a litigation process by bringing the case to the Supreme Court after completing
the process (Than Win, 2012).
Conclusion
Myanmar has experienced the rapid changes including legislations. In relation to the
legal changes, there are several serious criticisms. First one is the process of promulgation.
The laws are introduced without social consensus or open discussion. The laws have been
drafted by the government and passed by the parliament secretly. Public society cannot
access the contents of the laws until the government officially releases them. People who