PM to look into labour congress’ demands

PRIME Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday promised to respond to the demands from the National Labour Congress (NLC), though probably not all of them.
“I will look into the 15 demands from the NLC but I can’t say that I will be able to heed all of them,” he said in his May Day speech.
Like other countries in the world, Thailand celebrated International Labour Day on May 1.
The 15 demands include raising wages, establishing a fund to help employees who do not receive severance pay when a company goes out of business, scrapping any plan to privatise state enterprises and introducing better legal protection for workers.
Prayut said his government was committed to ensuring legal protection for workers and taking action against their exploiters.
According to Suan Dusit Poll’s survey of workers from April 25-30, 84.6 per cent of the 1,070 respondents said labour wages remained low.
About 78.5 per cent complained that labour protection was not yet comprehensive enough.
The countrywide Bt300 minimum daily wage has been the norm for a few years but the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee wants to see it hiked to Bt360 a day.
The calls for this rate have been echoed all around.
Samrerng Nakratoke, secretary-general of the Ubon Ratchathani chapter of the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation, said the wage should be raised to Bt360 to reflect the country’s current economic conditions.
During his May Day speech, Prayut urged workers to see themselves as members of the firms they work for. They need to understand that if they are too demanding, their employers might have no other choice but close down the business.
“But if you find your employers fail to comply fully with the law, you can alert authorities. We will take action. We will protect you,” he said.
Workers should develop their skills and boost their abilities particularly for emerging industries.
“If you have more knowledge and skills, you can choose your job,” he said.
Skilled workers could also make adjustments even if robotics played a bigger role in manufacturing plants in the future.
The government was striving to ensure that all Thais of working age had jobs and earned enough income for a happy, sufficient life.
Attention would also be paid to unregistered and foreign workers.
In the western border province of Tak, more than 200 Myanmar workers came together to share their knowledge and experiences.
Organisations working for the migrant workers’ causes showed up to educate them about labour laws to prevent them from being abused.
The Migrant Rights Promotion Working Group vowed to ask the government to help crack down on agents that had overcharged Myanmar workers for their nationality verification.