Help offered to flood-hit workers
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As water levels drop in Ayutthaya, more than 33,000 of the 280,000-plus employees who had to stop working due to floods are returning to work, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare said yesterday.
The 33,892 are employed at 25 factories which are resuming operations, while most businesses have informed the department that they would rehire the remaining workers, the department’s director-general Arthit Issamo said. Arthit did not provide figures for all the flood-hit factories.
However, details from 14 of the 32 flood-affected provinces show that the livelihoods of 819,147 workers from 20,526 businesses are under threat. In Bangkok alone, 6,474 businesses with 109,602 workers are affected.
Under a new department policy, 465 businesses in 40 provinces have registered for 57,692 new workers, he said.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has offered a four-point solution to help those who have lost their jobs due to flooding: immediate employment in new workplaces; subsidy for those without a job after the floods; training in new fields; and assistance for SMEs.
ILO officials in Thailand will conduct a survey in Ayutthaya on November 15 and 16 to gather information and help bring together businesses in trouble and relevant agencies.
Arthit said the ILO had helped with mass employment in many post-disaster situations, including the tsunami in Thailand and Indonesia and an earthquake in China.
