Khaing Zar Aung is president of the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), an executive committee member of the Confederation of Trade Union, Myanmar (CTUM), and a member of the Myanmar Labour Alliance. She has been blacklisted by the Myanmar military junta. Since the 2021 coup she has been forced to live in exile.
Democratic forces in Myanmar have been fighting for more than three years against a military junta. Unions are a crucial part of the resistance movement, and the government has cracked down on them with deadly force.