NCPO to get proposals on labour issues soon
PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- THE BOARD of Trade of Thailand and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) will submit proposals to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) this month for increasing the efficiency of the government and the private sector in regard to solving labour problems in the Kingdom.

The goal is to ensure that Thailand's status will be upgraded in the United States' "Trafficking in Persons" (TIP) report next year, and that the country will not lose export privileges to the US and the European Union, or competitiveness vis-a-vis other trading partners, as a result of labour problems.

Bhumindr Harinsutr, vice chairman of the TCC, said yesterday that the chamber would first propose the plan to the Public-Private Joint Standing Committee this coming Monday.

The agreed version by three private-sector organisations - the chamber, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers Association - will then be proposed to the ruling junta during a meeting between the NCPO and the committee on July 16.

The meeting will be the first that the NCPO has had with the country's three most powerful business organisations to discuss economic issues.

The priority emphasis will be on finding a long-term solution for labour problems in Thailand, solving issues relating to alien workers, and solving issues concerning workers in fishery industries.

The TCC will propose that the NCPO strictly regulate labour brokers and agencies, so that foreign workers are only sought and employed under fair conditions, said Poj Aramwattananont, deputy secretary-general of the Board of Trade and president of the Thai Fishery Producers Coalition.

He said many illegal agencies had been uncovered, and that such operations caused problems both for workers and the factories that employed them.

He suggested that the military government regulate all agency businesses, so that alien workers do not suffer as a result of being lured by such operators.

Among the roughly 2 million Myanmar workers, 300,000 Cambodians and 50,000 Vietnamese in Thailand, many are working illegally, he said, adding that the government needs to have all foreign workers legally registered.

According to the Office of Foreign Workers Administration, as of May, 1.52 million foreign workers were legally registered in the Kingdom.

As a long-term solution to the labour issue, the TCC proposes that the government draw up a five-to-10-year plan to increase labour supply and organise foreign workers legally, Bhumindr said.

It suggests that the government upgrade the education system to produce more vocational students, to serve demand in the private sector, including small enterprises.

Thailand also needs to collaborate with source-of-labour countries - mainly Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - to draw up labour-management plans as well as create fair conditions for workers.

Involved government agencies should also set up an online database to collect information on fishing boats and fishery enterprises along the coast. A government agency should also regularly inspect fishing boats, and their workers.

Bhumindr added that since Thailand was continuously striving to resolve its labour problems, the country should be upgraded in next year's TIP report.

Moreover, as to the revision of the List of Goods Producers by Child Labour and Forced Labour (the TVPRA List), Thai products - including sugar cane, shrimp, tuna, other fish and garments - should recover their benefits from the US under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/NCPO-to-get-proposals-on-labour-issues-soon-30237617.html

-- The Nation 2014-07-03

I hope Prayuth revert back the min wages to pre Thaksin as it is costing our company too much to much to employ these unproductive and lazy people sitting around most of the day drinking energy drink.

I hope Prayuth revert back the min wages to pre Thaksin as it is costing our company too much to much to employ these unproductive and lazy people sitting around most of the day drinking energy drink.

Yearly adjustments were common before the major hike, the last of which was 2011-01-01 if I remember correctly. Now we have the minimum wage level promised May, 2011 and only fully 'implemented' January 2013. What with inflation one might say that a new adjustment should be contemplated by now. IMHO.

It appears to me that the only reason the labour issues are being addressed is they don't want penalties imposed with so called human trafficking embargo's, this is a sure fire way to impress the international community, when Thailand realizes that the labour work force are human beings and not pieces of paper with numbers ,better labour relations with other country's might evolve , it might also improve productivity if they took a few pages out of the International Labour countries obligations book.

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I hope Prayuth revert back the min wages to pre Thaksin as it is costing our company too much to much to employ these unproductive and lazy people sitting around most of the day drinking energy drink.

What you want is all workers should be in poverty , it doesn't matter at the cost of living, just keep paying Sh!!t wages, Thailand needs to place its self as a consumer lead nation, not a export lead nation , with your thinking it will never become anything than what it has been for the past twenty years , stagnant and going backwards. Even China has improved its base wage, for this very reason, a consumer lead economy always beats relying on exports, the US is a consumer lead economy it is not reliant on exports.

It appears to me that the only reason the labour issues are being addressed is they don't want penalties imposed with so called human trafficking embargo's, this is a sure fire way to impress the international community, when Thailand realizes that the labour work force are human beings and not pieces of paper with numbers ,better labour relations with other country's might evolve , it might also improve productivity if they took a few pages out of the International Labour countries obligations book.

You are probably right, but most countries and corporations, do not do the "right thing", until they are pressured to do so. You think Great Britain just gave back India, because they saw the light one Sunday?

I hope Prayuth revert back the min wages to pre Thaksin as it is costing our company too much to much to employ these unproductive and lazy people sitting around most of the day drinking energy drink.

Yearly adjustments were common before the major hike, the last of which was 2011-01-01 if I remember correctly. Now we have the minimum wage level promised May, 2011 and only fully 'implemented' January 2013. What with inflation one might say that a new adjustment should be contemplated by now. IMHO.

The problem with the new minimum wage is that it did not increase the take home pay for a lot of them. The companies just paid them more and then deducted perks such as social insurance that they had previously paid for them. How ever inflation marched on. I have a daughter working as a nurse's aid in a hospital bringing home 7,000 baht a month after deductions. Her husband working in the X ray department the same.

As for the foreign workers they need to simplify the system as there are many that can not even fill the forms in with out help creating huge line ups to get them.

"Bhumindr added that since Thailand was continuously striving to resolve its labour problems, the country should be upgraded in next year's TIP report."

This attitude annoys me seriously.

'Fix it' so we can get a good report, rather than 'fix it' because we should simply have more respect for human rights and human safety.