Website : Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association
YCOWA
Background
Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association (YCOWA) in Mae Sot, Thailand is an organization dedicated to attaining fair wages and working conditions for the more than 2 million grossly abused Burmese.
YCOWA was founded in July 1999 by Burmese student activists and migrant workers, with the goal of improving working and living conditions for the estimated 80,000 Burmese migrant laborers in the Mae Sot area, Thailand.
YCOWA has been organizing workers since 2001 and has 700 contributing members. Together with The MAP Foundation and The Lawyers Council of Thailand, Yaung Chi Oo has set precedent in the Thai labor courts winning 6 million baht in back wages on behalf of 2,000 workers. Yaung Chi Oo Association is involved with ongoing negotiations with employers and the Labor Protection Office seeking to force employers to abide by Thai labor laws. Pressure is also being put on the foreign mega corporations that knowingly purchase products for ridiculously low prices made possible by Burmese “sweatshop” labor. Yaung Chi Oo also provides training to workers about their legal rights and publishes a newsletter that additionally educates workers about human rights and democracy (information kept hidden from them in Burma).
YCOWA was award “The 8th Tji Hak-Soon Justice and Peace Award” from Korea in December 2004
Current activities include:
- Conducting workshops and trainings about labor rights, organizing skills, human rights and democracy
- Providing legal assistance for workers who have suffered accidents on the job, being denied their salaries, or being subjected to other labor abuses
- Coordinating social and religious events
- Publishing YCO labor affair Journal monthly
- Providing temporary shelter to workers who have lost their jobs, or are ill, to victims of sexual assault and to women who are pregnant
- Helping workers find jobs
- Documenting the situation of migrant laborers, including information about working conditions, labor rights violations, and human rights abuses.
More information:
Moe Swe (Secretary)
Tel:(66-55) 542 622 , ( 66-9) 565 9899
Email: yaungchioo_info@yahoo.com
zawwinlwin88@yahoo.com
