As labour strikes increase in Rangoon, the Minister for Industry and Myanmar Investment Commission Chairman Soe Thein called for more support of trade unions and the protection of workers’ rights. Speaking about the garment industry at a workshop on Sunday at the Chatrium Hotel in Rangoon, he said, “Form the trade unions, the sooner the better. I’d like to ask civil society and political parties to offer their help in forming these trade unions.” ...[He] said that as demand increases in the labour market, the workers’ position would be stronger as investments in Burma become stronger. He called on the Labour Ministry to do more for workers’ labour rights....[In 2011] Burma passed [new laws] to bring labour laws closer to international standards...