Category: CDM Solidarity
Open Meeting: Coordinating activities for “Blood Money Campaign” Myanmar
Following the first open meeting on August 27th and the Global Week of Action (Setp. 11 – 18th) a second open meeting is scheduled to take place on September 19th!
The Blood Money Campaign was initiated and designed by activists and union leaders on the ground in Myanmar. Among others the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) is involved, which consists of grassroot factory unions across the country – mostly in textile factories. The campaign aims to pressure companies that keep doing business with the military junta – be it directly or indirectly. Various labour unions such as FGWM as well as the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM) as a whole call on all companies to halt investments in Myanmar. With any business done the military and its repressive regime benefit – through taxes, fees or direct cooperations.
More information on the Blood Money Campaign: globalmayday.net/bloodmoneymyanmar
To coordinate activities in October together, all supporting the aims of the Blood Money Campaign are invited to join the meeting on September 19th 2021 at 2:30 p.m. (UTC).
Check out following link for your local time: time.is/en/compare
Virtual room: meet.jit.si/BMCnetworking
Please enter your name (preferably incl. your location) when entering the room.
You can access the room on your computer, tablet or smartphone. You should accept access to your microphone. Activating your webcam is optional.
Hope to see you at the meeting!
#BloodMoneyMyanmar – Global Week of Action (Sept. 11- 18th)
Activists on the ground as well as the grassroot labour unions in the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) have initiated the Blood Money Campaign. The campaign aims to pressure companies that keep doing business in Myanmar to freeze all payments there immediately in order to cut off financial resources for the military junta.
Every month a common day or week of action will be coordinated. The working group Asia of the International Confederation of Labour (ICL) together with the individuals and organisations who initiated the Blood Money Campaign and the IWW Ireland call on all emancipatory groups and organisations to join the Global Week of Action in September!
What you can do:
- Show your solidarity and support on social media with the hashtags #BloodMoneyMyanmar #StopPayingToJunta #FreezeDollarToJunta
- Plan direct actions in front of offices, branches and headquarters of companies active in Myanmar (e.g. Primark or Adidas stores, offices of Volkswagen or branches of DHL Deutsche Post Group). You will find a complete list and more material for a protest here). In line with the campaign theme of blood money, you can use visual elements like bloody dolls or hands soaked in red color to create a “shock effect”.
- Send a letter of protest to the corporations that continue to do business with the military.
- Support fundraiser such as We Resist – Burma: firefund.net/weresistburma
If you have questions or are planning actions, please let us know. Here you will find suggestions for flyer texts, sample letters of protest and image material.
Don’t forget to send a report of your activities: asia@icl-cit.org | bloodmoneycampaign21@gmail.com.
Show our comrades in Myanmar that they are not alone, show your worldwide solidarity!
#BloodMoneyMyanmar
#UnitedAgainstTheJunta
A next open online meeting for common coordinations in October 2021 is scheduled for
Sept. 19th – 2:30 pm UTC – meet.jit.si/BMCnetworking !
Open Meeting: Coordinating Global Week of Action for “Blood Money Campaign” Myanmar
We – a local alliance consisting of the grassroot unions FAU and IWW in Hamburg as well as individual activists – invite to an open meeting to plan actions in context of the „Blood Money Campaign”, which aims to support the resistance against the military junta in Myanmar.
The Blood Money Campaign was initiated and designed by activists and union leaders on the ground in Myanmar. Among others the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) is involved, which consists of grassroot factory unions across the country – mostly in textile factories. The campaign aims to pressure companies that keep doing business with the military junta – be it directly or indirectly. Various labour unions such as FGWM as well as the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM) as a whole call on all companies to halt investments in Myanmar. With any business done the military and its repressive regime benefit – through taxes, fees or direct cooperations.
More information on the Blood Money Campaign: globalmayday.net/bloodmoneymyanmar
To coordinate a global week of action in context of the Blood Money Campaign together, we invite to a meeting on August 27th 2021 at 2:30 p.m. (UTC). Check out following link for your local time: time.is/en/compare
Virtual room: meet.jit.si/BMCnetworking
Please enter your name (preferably incl. your location) when entering the room.
You can access the room on your computer, tablet or smartphone. You should accept access to your microphone. Activating your webcam is optional.
Hope to see you at the meeting!
Students in Dhaka support CDM in Myanmar
Cultural activists as well as students organized with the Bangladesh Student Union (BSU) rallied today in Shahbag, a district of Dhaka. The protest was held against the military junta and its attacks on the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). A particular focus was on the recent killing of poet Khet Thi.
The action also took place in the context of Call for International CDM Solidarity.
Myanmar poet Khet Thi, whose works declare resistance to the ruling junta, has died in detention and his body was returned with the organs removed, his family said.
source: theguardian.com
A spokesperson for the junta did not answer calls to request comment on the death of Khet Thi, who had penned the line “They shoot in the head, but they don’t know the revolution is in the heart.” His Facebook page said he was 45.
Among others the following speech was held in Bangla:
The people of Myanmar continue to fight for democracy in the face of intense repression. Those fighting against the dictatorship are killed in the streets every day. At least 750 people have been killed so far in the protests. But still the movement continues. They died for democracy. The military junta is not stopping and keeps using lethal violence in the streets. Every day organizers and activists of the movement disappear, including journalists, intellectuals, poets and writers who inspire the struggle for freedom. One of the latest victims is Khet Thi, a poet dedicated to the democratic movement in Myanmar.
The barbaric acts of the military junta is captured in the media emerging from various sources, both reliable and unofficial, in the midst of extreme repression. Nowhere in the recent past has there been so much loss of life for democracy in the world – as right now in Myanmar. However, the movement against the barbaric position of Myanmar’s military junta and the killing of people is far from over. Regional politics, regional interests, diplomacy is actually for whom? For the people or for the oppressive regime? If the rulers have the last word; if the issue of man and his freedom becomes secondary, then what are the United Nations good for?
The Civil Disobedience Movement in Myanmar is also a motivating force against fascism and dictatorship in Bangladesh. The martyred poet Khet Thi of this movement is our nephew. Let us make clear our position against the brutal repression in Myanmar by demanding justice for Khet Thi’s murder. We sympathize with the struggle of the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar. At the same time, we unite our forces against all kinds of undemocratic, fascist forces at home and abroad.
#Call4InternationalCDMsolidarity
#WhatsHappeninginMyanmar
#1world1struggle
Aufruf zur Internationalen Solidarität mit dem Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)
Der folgenden Aufruf wurde von den Basisgewerkschaften Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) und All Burma Federation of Trade Unions (ABFTU) sowie dem Kollektiv Food Not Bombs Myanmar – mit Unterstützung der Arbeitsgruppe Asien der Internationalen Konföderation der Arbeiter*innen (IKA) – verfasst und eingereicht. Dieser kann auch hier als .pdf-Datei heruntergeladen werden.
Übersetzungen: Englisch | Spanisch
Aufruf zur internationalen Solidarität mit dem Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Myanmar
Liebe Genoss*innen von der Internationalen Konföderation der Arbeiter*innen, dem Global May Day Netzwerk und anderen emanzipatorischen Gruppen weltweit,
seit Anfang Februar gehen wir – zivile Basisgruppen und -organisationen in Myanmar – auf die Straße um gegen die Militärjunta zu kämpfen, die sich mit einem Putsch nach den Wahlen im vergangenen November wieder an die Spitze der Regierung gesetzt hat. Der Putsch hat massive Konsequenzen für uns: Unter anderem werden Freiheiten, die in den vergangenen Jahren und Jahrzehnten erkämpft worden waren, wieder zurück genommen. Von Anfang an haben wir in den Fabriken die Arbeiter*innen mobilisiert und maßgeblich die CDM Bewegung geprägt.
Wir kämpfen gegen die Militärregierung und ihr faschistisches Regime, für eine neue Verfassung und eine föderale Demokratie. Alle politischen Gefangenen müssen sofort frei gelassen werden!
Continue reading Call for International Solidarity with CDM in Myanmar
The following call was written by the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM), All Burma Federation of Trade Unions (ABFTU) as well as Food not Bombs Myanmar – with the support of the Asia Working Group of the International Confederation of Labour (ICL). It can also be downloaded as a .pdf.
Translations: Deutsch | español
Call for International Solidarity
with Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Myanmar
Dear comrades with the International Confederation of Labour (ICL), the Global May Day network and other emancipatory groups worldwide!
Since February, we, grassroot organisations in Myanmar, have been taking to the streets to resist the military junta, which forced itself back into authoritarian power with a coup after elections in November last year.
The coup has severe consequences for us, among others resulting in a roll-back of liberties achieved in the past few years and decades.
From the start we have been mobilizing inside the factories and shaped the CDM across the country.
We fight for the abolition of the military leadership and its fascist regime as well as a new constitution implementing full federal democracy. All political prisoners must be released immediately!
Continue reading