Workers march from Rayong for fair treatment

**StrontiumDog** · 10-02-2011, 12:35 AM

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011...-30148369.html

Workers march from Rayong for fair treatment

By Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation
Published on February 10, 2011

Some 2,000 workers are travelling from Rayong to Bangkok on foot to demand fair treatment from their employers.

"We will march to the Labour Ministry for a serious round of negotiation," Maxxis International (Thailand) labour union's chairman Chairat Bussara said yesterday. The workers started the march on February 1.

According to Chairat, Maxxis had made a profit of Bt1.56 billion in 2009, yet it was cutting down workers' welfare. On November 25, it stopped giving its 2,500 workers any shifts on the pretext that its machines were out of order. However, the workers soon discovered that their employer had hired alien and sub-contracted workers instead.

Chairat said the union had already spoken to the company's executives a dozen times, but with no satisfactory results.

"They offered to rehire the workers, but only if they agreed to allow their benefits to be cut. The conditions offered means that the workers' monthly income would be cut by about half," he said.

For instance, workers will no longer get overtime, no Bt3,000 to Bt10,000 monthly bonus for diligence, or the Bt700 travel allowance. "Housing allowance would also be cut from Bt800 to Bt600 a month," he said, adding that these benefits would stay at this level for at least three years.

Joining the march were workers from PCB Centre, which manufactures electronic circuits. The company hired more than 500 workers before the explosion of a hot-press machine killed three employees and injured many others on June 23 last year. After the incident, the company closed down for repairs and promised to pay its workers 75 per cent of their salaries until the factory could start operating again in December.

However, the payment was often delayed, and on January 24, PCB Centre terminated employment without any severance pay.

Chairat said the protest leaders would meet representatives of their companies at the Labour Ministry today for negotiations.

"For Maxxis International, we want the company to rehire workers under proper conditions," he said, adding that PCB Centre, meanwhile, should pay severance pay to its workers and provide compensation for those injured or killed.

"We also urge the government to seriously enforce laws for the protection of workers. Don't let foreign investors take advantage of Thai workers," he said. A Taiwanese investor owns Maxxis International (Thailand).

**dirtydog** · 10-02-2011, 02:19 AM

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

The workers started the march on February 1

It's now the 10th, why did it take them so long to walk such a short distance? It's only 146km or 90 miles.

**Airportwo** · 10-02-2011, 02:34 AM

^ Poor dears, maybe they found the walking too much like hard work

**dirtydog** · 10-02-2011, 02:53 AM

^Seems to be a sad fact of life that people are finding working is actually hard work.

**Bower** · 10-02-2011, 03:20 AM

Does sound like their protests are justified though, ignore them at your peril i think.

**blue** · 10-02-2011, 03:25 AM

Thai jobs for Thai workers !
Its this globalisation thing that got many countries in a recession

**dirtydog** · 10-02-2011, 03:39 AM

The thing is 10 Cambodians can do the work of 100 Thais, I used to employ a lot of Cambodians, they wanted to work and they wanted to earn money, I wouldn't set up a company here again using Thais.

**bobo746** · 10-02-2011, 08:54 AM

maybe the monk with the rolls royce could give em a lift

**Mid** · 10-02-2011, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Seems to be a sad fact of life that people are finding working is actually hard work.

concur

**StrontiumDog** · 19-02-2011, 09:02 AM

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...of-taiwan-firm

Govt asked to launch probe of Taiwan firm

Published: 19/02/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

The government has been asked to investigate Taiwanese tyre-maker Maxxis International (Thailand) Co's hiring of alien and sub-contracted workers and to revoke its investment privileges if the firm refuses to stop hiring such staff.

Chairat Bussara, president of the workers' union at Rayong-based Maxxis, yesterday petitioned deputy labour permanent secretary Sunan Porthong and urged the Labour Ministry's Employment Department to investigate the company's use of foreign and sub-contracted workers on the production line.

This practice allegedly violates Board of Investment (BoI) privileges, which must be cancelled if firms adopt unfair employment practices, said Mr Chairat.

More than 2,000 workers laid off by Maxxis marched to Bangkok from the factory in Rayong this month to air their grievances.

They had failed to negotiate a new contract with the company and claimed they then had to work longer hours for the same pay and with cutbacks in allowances.

The workers' union and Maxxis held 14 rounds of negotiations before the firm suspended operations.

This was ostensibly due to a breakdown of its machinery, but the workers believed it was because no resolution could be reached in the dispute with employees.

They later discovered that the company had hired foreign and sub-contracted workers to replace them, prompting the march to Bangkok.

The protesters arrived at the Labour Ministry on Feb 14 and have remained there since. The workers who kept their jobs said they now have to work three shifts a day, up from two, and their housing allowances have been cut from 800 baht to 600 baht per month, while the free employees' shuttle van service from the factory to town has been axed.

The union said overtime has also been scaled back, meaning that while the actual rate of pay has not been cut, the workers' average monthly income has dropped.

Wicha Pandee, manager of Maxxis' human resources department, said it was necessary for the firm to increase working shifts to maintain production capacity. Most tyre-manufacturing companies also had three working shifts.

The new working contract would not adversely affect workers' income as claimed, he said.

Their income would be only 500 baht lower than before, but they would have more holidays, he explained.

However, he admitted the company has hired 300 alien workers for its production line.

A source at the ministry said the firm failed to notify the Rayong provincial employment office that it has been given investment privileges.

As labour authorities were not aware that the firm had received BoI privileges, they approved the firm's request to hire alien workers.

The company's action may cause it to lose BoI privileges.

Thanin Jaisamut, adviser to the labour minister, said the ministry would look into the firm's quota to hire alien workers and the hiring of sub-contracted workers.

Thread: Workers march from Rayong for fair treatment

Thread Tools

Display

Hybrid View

Workers march from Rayong for fair treatment

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions