Free Burma protest targets Grace Bros

Issue 

BY LIISA RUSANEN

SYDNEY — In response to the human rights abuses of the military dictatorship in Burma, a protest action was held outside the Grace Brothers department store in the Pitt Street mall on November 10.

The Grace Brothers store was targeted because it stocks products made by Gazal Pty Ltd which produce clothes with super-exploited labour in a joint venture with the Burmese military regime.

Maung-Maung Than, Burmese exile and Free Burma Action committee activist, spoke about the situation in Burma. In 1988, the military government brutally cracked down on the democracy movement. It continues to use forced labour, murder and arbitrary arrest to maintain itself in power.

Jamie Parker from the Greens spoke critically of Grace Brothers refusal to discontinue selling Gazal's Van Heusen shirts and other products made under oppressive conditions in Burma. The Burmese democracy movement, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has asked firms not to invest in Burma, as it means more profits for the regime.

Other speakers at the rally included Resistance members Aaron Benedek and Kerryn Williams. They highlighted the role of the Australian government in supporting the Burmese dictatorship.

In July, the Australian government began a "human rights training program" with the Burmese military. This was despite the protests of Aung San Suu Kyi and the local Burmese community. The program serves only to provide legitimacy to the regime, Benedek said.

Williams invited passing shoppers to get involved in the Burma campaign and the movement for global justice, including actions against corporate tyranny on May 1 next year.

The speakers received a good reception from shoppers in the mall, with many people stopping to listen and take leaflets.

Moving on from Grace Bros, 50 protesters marched to the offices of Nippon Oil. Several oil companies have pulled out of Burma under international pressure over recent years. Nippon Oil is one of the few that remain.

The protest action was part of a build up to a global day of action for Burma on November 30, which is the date marked by the ILO as the deadline for the regime to end its use of forced labour. More than 800,000 Burmese people are used as forced labourers every day. If this is not stopped by November 30, trade union federations around the world will begin a campaign of black bans and other measures.

Supporters of the Burmese democracy movement are planning protests for this day outside Burmese embassies around the world.

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