by IUF Asia/Pacific | Sep 22, 2025 | Bahasa Indonesia, Defending Democracy, Human Rights
Agar pemilu yang dimulai pada 28 Desember 2025 terlihat nyata, junta militer Myanmar akan memastikan adanya partai-partai “oposisi” yang berpartisipasi.
Berdasarkan Undang-Undang Pendaftaran Partai Politik yang dibentuk oleh pemerintahan militer pada Januari 2023, partai yang ingin berpartisipasi dalam pemilu nasional harus memiliki setidaknya 100.000 anggota dan berkantor di 110 dari 330 kabupaten/kota. Dengan semua partai politik pro-demokrasi yang telah dinyatakan ilegal dan dilarang sebagai organisasi “teroris”, bagaimana mungkin sebuah partai oposisi yang sesungguhnya dapat terbentuk?
Pembatasan ketat terhadap kebebasan yang diberlakukan oleh militer di kabupaten/kota yang diduduki dan serangan militer terhadap penduduk sipil di seluruh negeri membuat perekrutan 100.000 anggota dan pembukaan lebih dari 100 kantor secara terbuka menjadi mustahil. Hanya partai politik yang bekerja sama dengan militer yang dapat melakukan hal ini.
Untuk menciptakan kesan banyak partai politik yang ikut pemilu, Undang-Undang Pendaftaran Partai Politik junta militer mengizinkan partai-partai daerah untuk mendaftar. Partai-partai ini dapat mengikuti pemilu lokal, tetapi tidak dapat mengikuti pemilu nasional. Partai-partai daerah ini harus memiliki setidaknya 1.000 anggota dan berkantor di lima kabupaten/kota.
Kemungkinan 40 partai daerah kini telah terdaftar, tetapi banyak yang belum memiliki kandidat dan kantor mereka hanyalah alamat di atas kertas. Sekali lagi, kolusi dengan militer adalah satu-satunya cara untuk terdaftar. Junta militer tampaknya yakin bahwa partai-partai politik boneka di tingkat daerah atau negara bagian ini akan membantu menciptakan kesan pemilu yang sesungguhnya.
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Sep 22, 2025 | Bahasa Indonesia, Defending Democracy, Human Rights
Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) yang dikendalikan militer menyatakan bahwa hanya 102 kabupaten/kota dari 330 kabupaten/kota di Myanmar yang akan diikutsertakan dalam pemilihan umum yang akan dimulai pada 28 Desember 2025. Jumlah tersebut hanya 31% dari total daerah pemilihan.
Mengapa 69% lainnya dikecualikan? Karena sebagian besar kota telah dibebaskan dari kekuasaan militer oleh People’s Defence Force (PDF—Pasukan Pertahanan Rakyat) dan Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs—Organisasi Revolusioner Etnis) yang berjuang untuk memulihkan demokrasi. Selain itu, puluhan kota juga diserang oleh militer. Junta militer yang berkuasa sedang melancarkan pengeboman udara – termasuk pengeboman sekolah dan rumah – untuk merebut kembali kendali.
Itulah sebabnya pemungutan suara yang disebut-sebut itu dimulai pada 28 Desember 2025 sebagai tahap pertama dan berlanjut selama dua atau tiga bulan. Hal ini dirancang untuk memberi militer lebih banyak waktu untuk mengambil alih lebih banyak kota secara paksa.
Jika jumlah daerah pemilihan yang dimasukkan dalam Union Election Commission (UEC—Komisi Pemilihan Umum) yang dikuasai militer meningkat hingga lebih dari 31% sebelum tanggal 28 Desember atau selama masa pemilu tiga bulan, itu semata-mata karena junta telah mengambil alih kembali kendali melalui serangan militer terhadap rakyat, yang mengakibatkan jatuhnya banyak korban jiwa.
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Jul 3, 2025 | English language, Freedom of Association, Quality Apprenticeship, women's rights, Workplace safety
In India, food sector corporations are following the trend to recruit more women workers but failing to provide safe, secure, and sustainable employment to women workers. Like some major companies are proudly announcing their plans of high number of women workers in their units like Coca Cola at Sanand 66%, Nestle at Sanand 62%, ITC at Medak 50%, AB InBev at Aurangabad 50%, and Ferrero Baramati 33%.
Some companies started the recruitment without any consultation of workers representatives and due diligence and hence, it is failing miserably and leaving women workers with no alternatives other than resigning from work. Many of these women workers are the first generation of industrial workers and failure of these companies to ensure strict implementation of their own policies, impact a large section of women workers in long term. Without sufficient consultation with all stakeholders and trainings, retaining these women workers is going to be very challenging.
In judgement of the honorable Supreme Court of India said there are serious lapse and uncertainty in the implementation of the Protection of Women for Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, leaving many working women no choice but to leave their jobs. Indian PoSH act mandates that every employer must form an internal complaint committee at each workplace that has 10 or more employees.
In one of the instances, women workers recruited by labour hire agency in one of major multinational corporation in India reported Sexual Harassment complaints against company HR Executive. Instead of fair investigation, company failed to take any immediate action which helped accused to misuse his authority. Finally, women had to approach the local police station to ensure her safety and justice.
This is not the first incidence and certainly not the last. In the absence of an independent & democratic strong union, women workers especially in precarious employment may continue to suffer.
In one of the major beer sector multinational company manufacturing sites in Maharashtra India, the company ensured gender balance in recruitment but even after five years, due diligence failed to ensure women workers safety through basic amenities like door-to-door transport, separate changing room, hygienic water & sanitation facility.
Image 1: IUF Asia Pacific Educational Training of Young Workers in Maharashtra, India.
All these incidences are self-explanatory in nature to help unions understand that in the absence of their active involvement, all these important policies including related to gender balance & workplace safety are bound to fail and have catastrophic implications.
IUF Action Program for Equality 2023-2027 calls on affiliates and on the IUF itself to make urgent progress and priorities work including preventing and eliminating gender-based violence and harassment. 3rd IUF Asia Pacific Regional Women’s Conference passed resolution which mandates to focus on more women in better paid, skilled, and secure jobs.
IUF Affiliates in India negotiated collective bargaining agreement in Ferrero company site, to form an women workers committee to resolve women workers concerns in the plant and converting precarious employment into permanent employment. Other affiliates in India continues to focus on gender equality and working together with the companies to ensure gender balance.
Despite these legislations, committees & company policies, due to unilateral approach of companies, there remains a significant and important journey ahead to safe, secure, and sustainable employment for these women workers.
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Jun 30, 2025 | Collective Bargaining Rights, English language, Freedom of Association, Labours' Rights, women's rights
Indian rural workers working in these village level primary milk collection centres remains unorganised and deprived of their labour rights but organising and fighting of workers at Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited successfully helped them to win their workers right.
The village level primary milk collection centres are responsible to collection, testing of milk, maintain collection records, milk payment to farmers, and also implementation of policies at the local level. These milk collection centres are legally registered with the state authorities as cooperative and provides on ground required support to small-marginal farmers. However,
The workers employed at the centres are from the same village and works in the morning and evening shift at the time of milk collection. Due to lack of implementation of one village, one primary co-operative, in some states like Maharashtra, multiple centres in the villages creates competition and reduce milk collection quantity and ultimately reduces the income of centres and their workers.
The employment of these workers is with the centres and district cooperative pays centres like per litre of milk collection i.e., INR 0.6 paise per litre (means INR 6 for ten litres of milk) as employee cost and 0.8 paise per litre (means INR 8 for ten litres of milk) as centre administrative cost.
Despite all odds, milk collection centres workers at Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (brand name Gokul) organised themselves under the legally registered labour union called Kolhapur Zilha Sahakari Doodh Sanstha Karmachari Sanghatana. Currently, the union represents around 9626 milk collection centre workers from Kolhapur district of Maharashtra and the membership continuous to grow. The union is also officially recognised by Gokul management, and the state authorities and invited for policy discussions.
The union also started different welfare schemes for their members from additional annual collection of INR 400 per member. They provide health insurance, term insurance, accidental insurance, retirement benefits, scholarship for children, etc,. to centre workers and their families.
The union also regularly followed with the social security (Provident Fund) Office and allowed their registration as employees. Hence, their Provident Fund amount is also directly deposited in to their PF account whereas in other state cooperatives like Karnataka Milk Federation (brand name Nandini), PF account is not allowed for centre workers in Karnataka, with the justification that centre does not qualify the requirement of minimum 20 employees at workplace. In an exchange visit, organised by the IUF Asia Pacific, unions from Maharashtra agreed to provide all the required technical support to lobby with concerned authorities to start Provident Fund membership to milk collection centre workers in Karnataka state.
GOKUL center workers representatives at Karnataka Milk Collection Centre
During IUF Asia Pacific outreach in Kolhapur, centre workers mentioned that majority of women workers in rural areas are involved in dairy animal management and bring this milk to centres. Hence, any state decisions directly affects the livelihood of millions of women dairy farmers in rural areas, including women dairy farmers.
Indian dairy production continus to grow annually and at the heart of this success are the unsung heroes of the rural dairy ecosystem—the workers at primary milk collection centers. These individuals serve as the first point of contact between millions of smallholder farmers and the broader dairy supply chain. Their dedication ensures that milk is collected efficiently, tested for quality, and transported under hygienic conditions, safeguarding both farmer incomes and consumer trust.
The Indian dairy industry mainly relies on these workers to collect quality milk supplies but in the absence of stronger union to protect and promote their rights, this whole arrangement is unsustainable. Hence, the future of Indian dairy industry directly linked with safe, secure and sustainable employment to these milk collection centre workers.
Women Dairy Farmer while supplying milk to village level milk collection center of Karnataka Milk Collection Center
by IUF Asia/Pacific | Jun 20, 2025 | Collective Bargaining Rights, English language, Freedom of Association, Human Rights
In today’s bilateral meeting between democratically elected local governing body representatives and Coca Cola management representatives, there is no progress on community concern and management refused to make any commitment on employment to local community.
in the absence of satisfactory response from company management, it is collectively decided to continue demanding justice and condemn police action against community, including women.
Here is the press release from the recent press conference of community condemning Coca Cola’s orchestrated police action against community
DocScanner Jun 20, 2025 10-12
