Striking CDM workers in Myitnge

Previous posts have updated you about how the donations you provided were sent to striking railway workers in Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin. Now a third town has been added to the list: your donations have gone to support CDM railway workers in Myitnge.

Myitnge isn’t that famous even in Myanmar. A centrally-located town in the middle of the Dry Zone, it is near Amarapura and on the Myitnge River. Oddly enough, however, its more recent claim to fame concerns the General Strike of 1974, which even more coincidentally, occurred in the Myitnge Railway Yard in May of that year before spreading to the rest of the country. Sadly, this strike ended how we’ve seen in much of Myanmar’s recent history, with military coming in to kill dozens of workers around the textile mill and dockyard.

This time we are hoping to rewrite that history, one donation at a time. Your funds are now providing a literal lifeline not only to these individual workers, but also to the wider movement they represent as they try to claim their freedom after decades of terror, continuing on today.

The striking railway workers are a key part of CDM, as they prevent the military from effectively moving supplies as needed. Myitnge itself is an important site in this regard, as it has historically been one of the main transport areas for passenger coaches as well as freight.

Thank you all for your donation. We have so much more work left to do, so please forward this to others who can help.

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