Myanmar workers file Bt46m claims against Betagro

[webfact]

Myanmar workers file Bt46m claims against Betagro

The Nation 

 

BANGKOK: --- Fourteen Myanmar migrant farm workers today filed a lawsuit against Betagro Group and Thai officials, seeking Bt46 million compensation and civil damages for alleged abuses at a poultry farm in Lop Buri. The lawsuit was filed at Region 1 Labour Court, in Saraburi.

 

These workers worked for a poultry farm which was a supplier of Betagro. On August 1, the Lopburi Department of Labour Protection and Welfare ordered the farm to pay compensation worth Bt1.7 million. 

The workers filed the lawsuit as they were not content with the compensation. They complained against alleged abuses for five years at the farm, which included below-market wages and absence of overtime payments. They also allege unlawful deduction of salaries, threats of further deductions, confiscation of personal identity documents and limited freedom of movement. Workers allege they left the farm only for 2 hours a week for an accompanied market visit.

In a statement by the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN) which assisted the workers for months, Betagro was named in the litigation because "it has failed to respond positively to both requests to ensure emergency accommodation and living support for the workers after they resigned from the farm in late June 2016 and also to requests that adequate compensation is provided to the workers following acknowledgement it purchased from the allegedly abusive farm".

Meanwhile, MWRN said, the Director General of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare has denied the severity of abuses alleged by the workers in this case insisting it was just a labour dispute between workers and their employer and not a case of forced labour, human trafficking, overwork or unlawful document retention.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Myanmar-workers-file-Bt46m-claims-against-Betagro-30294362.html

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-09-02

[jamesbrock]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

Meanwhile, MWRN said, the Director General of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare has denied the severity of abuses alleged by the workers in this case insisting it was just a labour dispute between workers and their employer and not a case of forced labour, human trafficking, overwork or unlawful document retention.

 

Of course he'd say that... No human trafficking here! (Or Zika, or terrorism, or floods, or deadly roads, ad infinitum)

[clockman]

More Thainess.Liars to a man!

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Meanwhile, MWRN said, the Director General of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare has denied the severity of abuses alleged by the workers in this case insisting it was just a labour dispute between workers and their employer and not a case of forced labour, human trafficking, overwork or unlawful document retention.

Uh oh, another pants on fire emergency happening.

[SOTIRIOS]

...I'd like to see western nations stand up for the countless English Teachers that have been cheated or abused through the years...

 

...not a chance.....

 

...bravo Myanmar......they know what they are dealing with....

[Lupatria]

Now they are searching for the guy who smuggled the paperback version of "Spartacus" in the camp.

[shirtless]

Its so typical in todays business world to overlook paying your workers , I hope they get their payout.Sounds like a bad bunch of people running the business , more like slavery.

[sahibji]

On 02/09/2016 at 4:48 PM, jamesbrock said:

 

Of course he'd say that... No human trafficking here! (Or Zika, or terrorism, or floods, or deadly roads, ad infinitum)

what ever it is their wages and time off should be honoured.

[sahibji]

On 03/09/2016 at 5:32 PM, shirtless said:

Its so typical in todays business world to overlook paying your workers , I hope they get their payout.Sounds like a bad bunch of people running the business , more like slavery.

a worker slogs to feed himself and his family and if the earnings are not forthcoming as they ought to be the pressure mounts both on the worker and his dependents.

[spidermike007]

It is a great day in Thailand, when a huge corporation is taken to task for their alleged misdeeds. My guess would be that their allegations are true. From what I have told, by Burmese people that I know, they are usually not treated well by their Thai employers. 

 

In my opinion, they should not only be paid well, they should be given benefits, and told that they are infinitely more valuable than their Thai counterparts. The vast majority work much harder, are honest, do not complain, and are outstanding employees. In addition, they should be given special status by the Thai government, as we all know the country could barely survive without them. They are to Thailand, what most Mexicans are to the US. They do jobs most Thais do not want to do, and they do it well. So, man up and take care of these people. Get some perspective.