The IFOMS – ITF Union Week Seminar was held in Yangon at the Park Royal Hotel on Ahlone Road from the 17th to the 20th. The event was attended by seafarer brothers from the Myanmar Seafarers’ Federation (MSF), cadets from the Myanmar Maritime University (MMU), and responsible persons from the Myanmar Shipping Enterprises Seafarers’ Federation (MSESF) and the Seafarers’ Division (SD).The seminar ran daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The opening remarks were delivered by U Aung Kyaw Lin, General Secretary of the IFOMS Head Office, and Brother Steve Trowsdale from the ITF.

Following the opening speeches, Brother Mohamed Arrachedi and Brother Sevn Hemme explained topics related to Collective Bargaining to the seafarer brothers and also answered questions from the seafarers.

Brother Peter Lahay also explained matters related to Union Awareness. Furthermore, the difficulties faced by the Myanmar seafarer brothers and the topics they wanted to know about were explained in detail, cross-referenced with the provisions stipulated in the MLC 2006, by U Shwe Htun Aung from the ITF.

The General Secretary of the IFOMS Head Office, U Aung Kyaw Lin, explained the history of how IFOMS was formed, its organizational structure, activities, and other related matters.

Brother Dean Summer provided a detailed explanation of how the MLC 2006 came into existence, the do’s and don’ts contained within the MLC 2006 handbook, and the rights that Myanmar seafarer brothers are entitled to, ensuring they are well-informed and understand them fully. Brother Jason Lam explained the MLC poster leaflet and the ITF Seafarers’ Application, detailing the usefulness of the application and how to use it.

In the afternoon, individual Myanmar seafarers were invited to ask questions about the difficulties they had encountered and the topics they wanted to learn more about. The questions were then collectively answered by a panel including: U Aung Kyaw Lin (General Secretary of the IFOMS Head Office), U Shwe Htun Aung from the ITF, Brother Mohamed Arrachedi, Brother Sevn Hemme, Brother Peter Lahay, Brother Dean Summer, Brother Jason Lam.

Brother Asif, in collaboration with the IFOMS Head Office, conducted health discussion sessions and provided explanations on topics related to HIV/AIDS. Ko Lu Aung, an Executive Committee (EC) member of the IFOMS Head Office, stated that the IFOMS Head Office has conducted numerous health education and awareness sessions on multiple occasions. In terms of healthcare, he announced that the IFOMS Head Office already has a doctor available every Thursday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. He added that this free healthcare service is provided not only for seafarer brothers but also for their family members.

U Zaw Aung, the President of the IFOMS Head Office, expressed his gratitude to the Myanmar seafarer brothers, the cadets from MMU, and the responsible persons from MSESF and SD who attended the event. He also extended an invitation to seafarer brothers who could not attend this time due to various reasons, encouraging them to participate in future seminars. He explained the purpose behind organizing the Union Week Seminar and concluded by stating that the event was successfully held.