TCC opposes raising daily wage to 400 baht nationwide
The Thai Chamber of Commerce says it will announce on Tuesday that it opposes the plan to increase the daily minimum wage to 400 baht nationwide by October 1.
The TCC said its vice-chairman Poj Aramwattananont and Thanawat Polvichai, rector of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, would hold a joint press conference to announce their stand against the 400-baht minimum daily wage.
On May Day, Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn announced that his ministry would push for a new 400-baht daily minimum wage by October 1.
Although the government cannot set daily minimum wage rates on its own as the rates are set by a tripartite committee, the government could order its representatives on the panel to work with employees’ representatives to vote for new rates.
Earlier this year, the wage panel announced it would approve new rates based on locations and types of businesses. From April 13, workers in tourism industries in 10 provinces received a new daily wage of 400 baht.
But last Wednesday, Labour Day, Phiphat said the 400-baht rate would be applied on October 1 across the board for all provinces, all areas and all types of businesses.
Poj, who is tipped to succeed Sanan Angubolkul as the TCC chairman next year, said on Monday that an across-the-board 400-baht rate would severely affect some businesses.
He said several businesses were not ready to shoulder the added cost from the new daily wage rate.
In particular, he said, provinces with many factories and few hotels would be affected as they were not prepared to pay higher wages.
Poj said the TCC supported the principle of selective wage increases for industries that are able to shoulder the added cost.
He added that businesses that do raise the daily minimum wage should employ more Thais than immigrant workers to prevent the flow of money abroad.
Meanwhile, Saengchai Teerakulvanich, president of the Federation of Thai SMEs, said he supports a daily-wage increase but the new rate should be enforced only on businesses that are ready to pay higher wages, instead of across the board.
Saengchai said the Labour Ministry and other government agencies should hold comprehensive public hearings before pushing for the new nationwide rate.
