Bangkok Post (24-8-99)

[mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx]

World workers protest-against Rangoon 

Demand release of 2 jailed unionists 

I nternational transport workers set up  a bamboo cage outside the Burmese
embassy in Bangkok. yesterday in a symbolic protest to dernand the release of
two jailed union officials in Rangoon. 
About 30 protesters demanded the immediate release of Khin Kyaw and Myo Aung
Thant, executives of the Federation of Trade Unions in Burma. 
Ulrich Juergens, leading a delegation to Thailand from the International
Transport Workers Federation, said there was "reason to believe the two men
had
been tortured since they were jailed two years ago. 
Myo Aung Thant, who represents a seafarers' union,  is serving life in prison,
while Khin  Kyaw., from an underground petrochemical workers union, has been
detained without sentencing. 
"Trade union, membership is not a privilege, but a basic human right. By
denying this right and other basic human rights to its people, the Burmese
generals prove they are no better than gangsters," Mr Juergens  said
        A  Filipino unionist sat inside the cage set up  on a truck and
briefly
parked outside the embassy. About 10 
'Fhai workers joined the protest. The ITF delegation is on its latest stop
on a
round-the-world tour in its own ocean-going vessel. They are campaigning for
labour rights, particularly for workers on ships travelling under flags of
convenience that evade nat ional labour laws. - AP