2,800 workers lose their jobs
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Of the 740,000 or so flood-affected workers, more than 2,800 have lost their jobs, though many businesses have said they will continue hiring more than 280,000 workers, the Department of Labour Protec-tion and Welfare said yesterday.
There are also about 600,000 migrant workers who are stranded in flooded areas waiting for relief supplies, and many face salary cuts due to losses incurred by their employers, an advocacy group said yesterday.
The 2,893 workers whose jobs have been terminated were given full compensation. Of them, 343 were part-time employees with three companies, while the rest were full-time staff with six large firms.
Most of the migrant workers are based Ayutthaya, where hundreds of factories and several industrial estates are inundated, said Arthit Issamo, the department’s director-general.
The largest lay-offs were at Canon in Ayutthaya, which terminated the employment of 1,979 people who had been working there for less than a year, and spent Bt51 million in total compensation. Arthit said Canon, among other companies, was ready to rehire the workers once the floods receded.
So far, 18,703 businesses in 19 provinces and 741,148 workers have been affected, and he predicted that more people would be laid off, adding that the figures would be clearer after October 31. A total of 435 business in Ayutthaya have promised not to lay off 287,844 workers, but many were only able to pay 75 per cent of the salary.
As for migrant workers, Migrant Working Group director Roysai Wongsuban said there were no updates about their condition, except that about 600,000 of them worked in flooded provinces.
He said most were not fluent in Thai and many could not read the language, so were unable to follow instructions, while the authorities were only helping Thai citizens.
Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said 421 migrant workers had been given shelter in Wat Rai Khing in Nakhon Pathom, while two more shelters would be set up in Nakhon Chaisri and Kamphaeng Saen districts.
Police have been told not to arrest or fine migrant workers who have to move outside their areas without permits to flee floods. Some 50,000 migrants have left Thailand to avoid flooding, Phadermchai said.
