History of Myanmar's labour movement (38/505)

This post presents page 38 of The History of the Myanmar Labour Movement by Thakin Lwin (Bagan Books, 1968).

Vocabulary

သက်ဝင် ။ believe ; accept; subscribe to
အစဉ်အလာ ။ tradition, convention
လျှို့ဝှက် ။ conceal; keep sth secret
တသီးတခြား ။ separately, independently
အပြိုင်အဆိုင် ။ rival; together; in competition with
ဂေဇက် ။ gazette
ပူးတွဲ ။ attach; fasten or join things together
သိုက်မြိုက် ။ well-appointed; well-equipped; well-furnished, well-attended

Translation:

From 1942 to 1945, Myanmar came under the control of the Japanese Fascists. During the Second World War period of absolute ဆိတ်သုဥ်းမှောင် democratic freedoms, the people who subscribed to the May Day ideology secretly and securely held May Day commemorations by maintaining the May Day traditions.

In 1946, although the forms of worker association in unions and associations had broken up, [people] were able to participate in solidarity in May Day commemorations under the banner of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL).

In 1947​, labour unions and worker associations separately celebrated May Day in competition with each other. In 1948, when Myanmar was recognised as an independent country, Myanmar decreed in the [law] gazette that May Day was a day of work closure.

And in 1948-49-50, the sole remaining Trade Union Congress - Burma (TUCB) joined with the separate worker associations that remained and formed May Day celebration committees and May Day was celebrated in well-attended unity. It is widely believed that May Day of 1950 brought about the start of the emergence of ideological splits within the AFPFL, which was in power, and the most extraordinary May Day [?].

Each year for 11 years, starting from 1951 until 1961, the Trade Union Congress - Burma (TUCB) and the Burma Trade Union Congress (BTUC), and after that the TUCB, the Union Labour Organisation (ULO) and the BTUC with separate forces would separately hold rival [events] every May Day carrying different meanings. In 1962, during the first year of the Revolutionary Government lead by General Ne Win taking power, the three TUCB, ULO and BTUC organisations joined together and held one large May Day assembly in Bandoola Park.