The enactment occurred at the ILC’s 113th session in Geneva, Switzerland, on 5 June.
Article 33 allows for measures to be recommended by the governing body to the ILC to ensure compliance when a nation disregards the recommendations of a Commission of Inquiry (COI) or a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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The resolution calls upon ILO member states, businesses, and labour organisations globally to scrutinise their interactions that may inadvertently support Myanmar’s military rulers. This includes evaluating investments, supply chains, collaborative efforts, arms supplies, jet fuel provision, and financial transactions with the military junta.
It also demanded the immediate release of individuals imprisoned for participating in trade union activities and calls for a cessation of hostilities against civil society.
Since 1 February 2021, when the junta took control through force, there have been reports of severe actions including imprisonment, forced concealment, and deprivation of fundamental rights against union members, activists, and civil society members.
According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the military junta imprisoned 69 trade unionists since the coup.
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By GlobalDataITUC general secretary Luc Triangle said: “We demand real political, economic and diplomatic pressure on the junta to restore rights, release all detained unionists, and end forced labour and terror. The workers of Myanmar have shown extraordinary courage, we stand in full solidarity with the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar (CTUM). Now the global community must match words with action to defend freedom, democracy and dignity for Myanmar’s working people.”
In January this year, global trade union IndustriALL reported alarming conditions of garment workers, including forced labour in factories amid ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
The federation has voiced its strong support of the implementation of Article 33.
Furthermore, the junta has not adhered to the directives of the ILO’s 2023 Commission of Inquiry which demanded an immediate halt to violence and torture against union leaders, release of detained trade unionists without conditions, retraction of criminal charges, and cessation of forced and underage labour practices by the military.
Atle Høie general secretary of trade union IndustriALL said: “The adoption of Article 33 is sending a powerful message to Myanmar’s military junta: the world will not stay silent in the face of systematic and persistent violations of workers’ and human rights. Now, this resolution must lead to real consequences. We call on all governments and employers to cut ties with the junta, support Myanmar’s legitimate democratic forces and stand with workers risking everything to organise for a better future.”
This marks only the third occasion where the ILO has resorted to its most severe enforcement tool. Article 33 was previously invoked in 2000 against Myanmar for forced labour issues during a prior military regime and again in 2023 against Belarus due to suppression of independent trade unions.
