Courts Face Heavy Load Of Pay Disputes: Thai Flood

[webfact]

FLOOD DISASTER

Courts face heavy load of pay disputes

The Nation

In addition to the many cases involving flood-related layoffs, 46 routine labour disputes over workers' pay demands await court hearings by the end of the year, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare said yesterday.

Director general Arthit Issamo called on workers who are unhappy about bonuses, welfare conditions or pay raises offered by employers not to stage protests or create disturbances, but to negotiate through their unions.

Unions are welcome to submit complaints to the department, which is also dispatching inspectors to visit workplaces in the 46 cases and in other cases where disputes are looming, he said.

More than 18,000 factory workers lost their jobs at 59 plants because of the flooding, while 373,817 employees of 3,851 businesses were affected due to losses or temporary closures.

Some 526 businesses in eight provinces employing 210,260 workers are participating in a department project aimed at assisting both sides, with workers agreeing to receive lower salaries for a while in exchange for employment assurances.

In Lamphun, a meeting of employers and workers at a Hoya Glasstic (Thailand) plant failed to produce an agreement and a major strike appeared possible yesterday evening.

The failure of the talks means up to 2,000 workers could be laid off by December 31. The company insisted that those agreeing to continue working under certain conditions would not be given overtime payments.

A negotiator representing a group of electronics assembly workers, Chatchai Somboon, said the workers told him that a rally would be staged outside the plant at 7 pm yesterday evening. No activities were reported as of press time.

Union leader Akhradej Chobdee said the workers realised the company faced hardship resulting from the flooding in Ayutthaya, but insisted that their demands - including 75-per-cent paid maternity leave - were reasonable and necessary.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has officially approved a request by the Social Security Office that employers and beneficiaries be allowed to pay 3-per-cent monthly contributions, down from 5 per cent, for the first half of next year, starting January 1.

Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said the rate would be increased to 4 per cent in the second half starting June 1, while the government would maintain its subsidy rate of 2.75 per cent.

-- The Nation 2011-12-20

[Bakseedaa]

Time to move out of Thailand and open factories in Burma/Vietnam....... Let the Peoples Reap what they sow...!

[sparebox2]

18,000 Thai loss their job?

But there are about 1 million illegal foreign workers.

If Thai can accept lower pay, these 18,000 can easily displace the illegal workers.

[lounger]

They want cheap they get cheap......