Draft:Phyo Sandar Soe

Phyo Sandar Soe, who was born in Yangon on August 18th 1983, is a Burmese trade union leader and human rights activist. Sandar was born into a very poor family with four siblings, three sisters and one brother. She learnt very early about hard work, at the age of 12 helping her grandmother to sell vegetables at the local market. In 1999 she started work in a garment factory but the pay and conditions were very poor so in 2006 she left Burma with her sister and found work in a garment factory in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burma border as an undocumented migrant worker. There she become involved in the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB, now the CTUM) which was operating in exile, educating workers on labour rights in the garment factories along the border. During this time she was arrested by the Thai police for having no papers. She was put in Mae Sot prison along with other migrant workers, sleeping in cramped conditions on the cell floor. The injustice of this experience grew her resolve to fight worker exploitation and low wages. She then was invited to work with the FTUB where she became an effective and charismatic organiser , only returning to Burma in 2012 when the country transitioned to a quasi-democratic government and passed laws allowing freedom of association and the formation of trade unions. Here she continued her strong union and human rights activism in what was still a challenging environment for unionists.

Impact of the 2021 military coup

In February 2021 the transition to a more democratic and free Myanmar was overturned when the recently elected government was overthrown by a military junta and ten years of progress was reversed. Sandar was heavily involved in the civil disobedience movement (CDM), organising and taking part in the many protests against the junta, frequently moving around Yangon to avoid arrest. When warrants for ‘high treason’ were issued for her and 28 other CTUM leaders her organisation asked her to leave the country for her safety and she safely crossed the border disguised as an old woman Once in Mae Sot, she continued her training and organising work, but even there her life was at risk. With practical support from Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust she was granted a permanent resident’s visa but it was only after months of representations that the Thai authorities allowed her to travel to Aotearoa New Zealand. From here she worked as a part time organiser for the Public Service Association (PSA) and her story is featured prominently on their website. But her international responsibilities required international travel for her role as a member of the ILO Governing Body. In August 2024 she relocated from Wellington to Auckland where she has casual work with the PSA, while working to bring together the Myanmar community groups, both refugees and students. This involves training Myanmar youth in campaigning, lobbying and social dialogue. She also continues with international meetings both online and in person.

Roles and achievements

At the 2014 founding congress of the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar CTUM, she was elected as the Assistant General Secretary of the CTUM. She is also a cofounder of CTUM. From 2014 she was the FTUM youth committee secretary. She was also working for FTUB International Department and Database Department. In 2015, she was interviewed about workers’ expectations of social protection in Myanmar at the 104th International Labour Conference in Geneva. She is a founder of the Building and Wood Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (BWFM) and in September 2014 was elected as the joint general secretary. She has been a worker advisor at the International Labour Conference for 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2022 on the anniversary of the military coup, when 400 delegates gathered virtually for the First People’s Assembly of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), she was elected assistant general secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar (CTUM). She is the only woman and is the youngest person elected to the presidium. In 2022 she was awarded the Right for All Award by Building and Woodworkers International. She is a member of National Tripartite Dialogue Forum (NTDF) and worker delegate of National Social Security Board and CTUM representative of the Social Protection Technical Working Group Committee. At the ITUC and ITUC-Asia Pacific solidarity meeting on Myanmar in Geneva on 10 June 2024 during 112th Session of the International Labour Conference, Sandar provided the latest developments in Myanmar, Her current roles include Assistant to the Secretary General of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), Secretary General of the Building and Wood Workers Federation of Myanmar (BWFM), and one of the Deputy Presidents of the 12 million-strong Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI).