GOVT URGED TO PAY BT300 WAGES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Protest leader Chalee Loisoong said the government should scrap the Cabinet’s decision to apply the Bt300 wage only to seven provinces initially, as it should be equal throughout the country. He said the workers would hold another protest on April 1 if the Bt300 daily wage does not go into effect nationwide by then. 

 

Chalee, who is head of the influential Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC), which led yesterday’s protest, said it would be unfair if labourers did not get their wages raised, especially after government officials and state-enterprise employees had theirs boosted recently. He also called on employers and business owners to offer special incentives and a higher wage to workers who have been with them a long time.

 

He dismissed the Tripartite Wage Committee’s ruling that the Bt300 rate would not be implemented nationwide for the next three years, saying that the wages should be increased according to changing economic conditions and inflation. 

 

Chalee said the workers did not want Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap to lose his job because his stance with the labourers was not “unacceptable”. Phadermchai had said earlier that the protesting workers were the very same people who were planning to pressure the government. 

 

Deputy Government Spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said earlier that yesterday’s protest was not worrying. 

 

He added that similar rallies would soon be held by people demanding higher wages, including one by those wishing to earn Bt15,000 at entry level – another election promise made by the now-ruling Pheu Thai Party.

 

Meanwhile, a seminar on labour-related issues yesterday called on the government to set up a committee to see how much more compensation needs to be provided to employers and workers affected by last year’s flood crisis. 

 

The panel should comprise representatives from employers, workers, government and lecturers, said Sunee Chaiyaros, a member of a labour network.