Daikin allows non-union workers to resume work

Company permits return to work after lockout over bonus dispute

Daikin Industries (Thailand) announced on Sunday that workers who are not members of the company’s labour union may return to work on Monday, following a lockout imposed amid a heated dispute over annual bonus payments.

The company informed employees that non-union workers could resume duties from Monday, while union members remain barred from entering the factory.

Daikin announced the lockout on December 4, effective December 6, after 11 failed rounds of negotiations over bonus and welfare benefits.
The company initially offered a bonus equivalent to five months’ salary plus a special payment of 12,000 baht, later increasing the offer to six months plus 12,000 baht.

The union demanded a significantly higher bonus, citing the company’s strong performance and nearly 6 billion baht in profit last fiscal year. Their final major request was reportedly eight months’ bonus plus 24,000 baht.

Gold benefit dispute intensifies worker–management tensions

A major sticking point is the union’s insistence that Daikin honour the original employment contract granting long-serving employees (ten years or more without leave) a gift of gold weighing three baht.

Daikin proposed replacing this with a fixed cash payment of 40,000 baht, but workers and union leaders argue that this offer severely undervalues the gold benefit, especially given rising gold prices.

The company reportedly paid more than 100 million baht for gold ornaments last year, and this year the cost would exceed 200 million baht, according to Pongthep Phetsoam, deputy director-general of the Labour Welfare and Protection Department.

Union mobilises as more workers join membership drive

On Sunday at 9am, the Daikin Workers’ Union at the Amata Rakseri plant gathered again in Tambon Ban Kao, Phan Thong district, Chonburi, to plan its next steps in pressuring the company to meet its demands.

Around 300 additional workers applied for union membership on Sunday to show solidarity in the campaign for fair bonuses and benefits.

Union leaders took to the stage to outline strategy for the next phase of negotiations.

The Amata Rakseri union also invited Daikin workers’ unions from Rayong and Chonburi plants to coordinate positions ahead of the 12th round of talks with the company, scheduled for Monday at the Chonburi Labour Protection Office.

Unions plan revised offer ahead of next negotiation round

Manit Piyung, president of the Amata Rakseri union, said he had called representatives from all three unions to form a unified negotiating stance.

He said the unions would reduce their demand to a seven-month bonus—matching last year’s payout—with an additional 30,000 baht in cash as compensation to union members.

Manit added that the dispute over the three-baht gold benefit must be negotiated separately between the company and eligible long-serving employees.

About 1,300 workers qualify for the gold benefit, having worked at least ten years without taking leave, he said.