5 – No guarantee of rights
The ITUC Global Rights Index

Thailand

The ITUC affiliates in Thailand are the Labour Congress of Thailand (LCT), the National Congress Private Industrial of Employees (NCPE), the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC) and the Thai Trade Union Congress (TTUC).

In practice

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Union leaders facing jail for rail safety campaign21-10-2021

Sawit Kaewvarn, president of the State Railway Union of Thailand, and 12 other national and local union local union A local branch of a higher-level trade union such as a national union. leaders faced three years in prison for their role in organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. a railway safety campaign. They were convicted of omission of duties and sentenced to three years in prison in October 2020. They appealed the verdict and were freed on bail but one year later were waiting for a final ruling.
Sawit is also head of the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation, the largest body of trade unions in Thailand. The case against him dated back to 2009 when seven passengers were killed, and dozens more injured, after a train derailment. It was the third derailment in weeks. The company blamed the driver, but the union argued that faulty safety equipment had contributed to the disaster. It launched a health and safety campaign, calling on the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to fix broken machinery. Drivers refused to operate trains that did not have functioning safety features.
In response, the SRT accused the union of organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
– which, as state enterprise workers, they are forbidden from doing. It filed a lawsuit against the 13 union leaders, which led to years of drawn-out negotiations and expensive litigation. Sawit was dismissed in 2011, and, though reinstated in 2014, was not compensated for the lost income.
In 2018, after the lawsuit was ended, seven of the national union leaders were ordered to pay 24m baht in fines and interest. The sum was to be deducted from their wages.
It did not end there. In 2019, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) brought criminal charges against the group, accusing them of omission of duties and of causing a work stoppage with an intention to cause damage. Those charges led to their sentencing on 21 October 2020.

Union leaders persecuted 31-08-2021

Four leading labour activists were summoned by the police for speaking at rallies organised by student movements between February and August 2021. They were associated with the Labour Network for People’s Rights (LNPR), a network formed in 2020 to demand that the Thai government stop harassing people participating in pro-democracy protests. The protest movement began following irregularities in Thailand’s general election in 2019 and the subsequent forced dissolution of an opposition party by the constitutional court.
The four activists – Sia Jampathong, president of Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation of Thailand (TWFT); Tanaporn Wijan, leader of the Building and Wood Industrial Council of Thailand (BWICT); together with Suthila Leunkam and Sriprai Nonsee – were summoned and questioned under the terms of the Emergency Decree and the Disease Control Act.
Ironically, the protests also criticised the government for mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic and delaying the distribution of vaccines to the people.

Workers dismissed over union activities 13-12-2019

Shortly after workers at Mizuno Plastic in Thailand established a union in December 2019, 33 of them were fired. 
Just a few days after the Mizuno Plastic Workers Union was founded, management claimed it was making losses and announced a redundancy plan. Thirty two of the 33 dismissed workers had been involved in forming the union. 
They set up a picket outside the company premises on 9 December 2019, and on 13 December they met the Labour Relations Committee, while the national and international trade union movement called for their reinstatement.

Railway union leaders on trial 11-11-2019

Ten years after the events that triggered the charges against them, the trial of 13 leaders of the State Railway Union of Thailand (SRUT) was due to begin on 11 November 2019. 
The State Railway Workers’ Union of Thailand (SRUT) had organised a nationwide rail safety campaign following a fatal train derailment on 5 October 2009 at Khao Tao Station, which killed seven and left several others injured. An internal fact-finding investigation concluded that the main cause of the accident was that the locomotive was poorly maintained and in unsafe condition, a view upheld by the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. 
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT), however, dismissed six leaders of SRUT Hat Yai branch in 2009, filed cases against seven SRUT national leaders and dismissed a further seven in 2011. Following official complaints by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the ITUC, the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
concluded that the SRUT’s leaders had simply highlighted the unsafe working conditions on the Thai railway system. In 2014, 13 leaders were reinstated to their positions, following national and international campaigns, but only six of them with back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). . In March 2018, the Supreme Labour Court ordered seven SRUT leaders to pay damages amounting to approximately 24 million Thai Baht (approximately US$726,116). 
The next step was to charge them with corruption and misconduct, including negligence of duty, leading to the trial starting in November 2019. If found guilty, they face a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine of 20,000 Thai Baht, and termination of their employment by the SRT. 
The thirteen SRUT leaders are: Wirun Sakaekum, Prachaniwat Buasri, Nittinai Chaiyaphum, Sorawut Phothongkam, Thawatchai Boonwisoot, Saroj Rakchan, Sawit Kaewwan, Thara Sawangtham, Liam Mokngam, Pinyo Ruenphet, Arun Deerakchat, Bunjong Bun-net and Supichet Suwanachatri. 

USTR announced possible GSP suspension for Thailand25-10-2019

On 25 October, the United States announced a six-month window to Thailand to remedy fundamental labour rights issues before the GSP trade preference with the US could be renewed. The possible cancellation is based on the complaint filed by the AFL-CIO for the longstanding failure of the Thai government to bring the domestic laws, namely the SELRA, in compliance with ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Convention No. 87, systematic anti-trade union discrimination, and the denial of migrant workers’ right to form their own trade unions for collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement

Thai government enforces damages claim for 2009 strike action by deducting fines from salaries of trade union officials19-11-2018

In November 2018, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) began enforcing its successful claim for 21 million Baht in damages against the State Railway Union of Thailand (SRUT), and seven of its officials, including Brother Sawit Kaewpradap, general secretary of SERC and SRUT. The claim, which began in 2011 and was most recently upheld by the Thailand Supreme Court in 2017, arose out of 2009 industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. by the union, where union members protested against a railway accident that killed seven workers. SRUT has been negotiating with the SRT for years to resolve the situation; however, in November 2018, the SRT began deducting the fines from the salaries and pensions of the seven SRUT officials, two of whom have retired. The deduction of the fines has had a serious impact on the union officials, some of whom are now left with a take home pay of only 300 bhat (US$9.1). It will take at least ten years for the seven leaders and their families to repay the fines, as the total amount has risen to 24 million baht (US$730,000) including interest.
The Thai government, which has refused to revise the Labour Relations Act or to ratify ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Convention No. 87 and 98, has ignored a number of international campaigns against the case, as well as the complaint filed by the ITUC and ITF in 2013 seeking that the SRT withdraw the claims. The move of the SRT to bankrupt the SRUT leaders and their families represents a strong anti-union attack. The treatment of the seven union officials has been condemned by international advocacy groups including the International Transport Workers’ Federation as an attack on the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
and the demand for safer working conditions.

Dispute at Mitsubishi sees locked out union members subjected to humiliating treatment and 26 union leaders dismissed04-10-2018

Members of the Confederation of Thai Electrical Appliances, Electronic Automobile and Metalworkers (TEAM) employed by Mitsubishi Electric Consumer Products Thailand have been forced to endure lengthy and humiliating training before being reinstated after going on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in December 2017. The initial dispute, which saw 1,800 union members locked out of the Mitsubishi factory, ended when the union and company reached an agreement through collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
on 29 January 2018, where Mitsubishi agreed to reinstate all locked out workers.
However, before they were reinstated, the workers were required to attend a four-day disciplinary camp at a military base, undergo five days of training with an external human resources firm to “reflect on their wrong doing”, one day of cleaning old people’s homes to “earn merit”, and three days at a Buddhist temple. The workers were also made to post apologies to the company on their personal social media accounts.
Despite undergoing this process, 24 workers had their employment terminated, including ten members of a new union committee that had been elected in June 2018. Two other workers were dismissed after the company sought permission from the labour court.
The workers who were reinstated were required to sign individual contracts, replacing the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement that expired at the end of September 2018. The contracts contain a clause where the worker must confirm that they are not members of a union. If they refuse, they lose all wage increases and benefits that the new contracts contain. The conduct of the company is a concerning attempt to reduce the strength and influence of TEAM at Mitsubishi Thailand, which has been active for the past 20 years.

Court dismisses criminal defamation charges filed against migrant workers who filed a complaint against their employer12-07-2018

In July 2018 a Thai court dismissed charges against 14 migrant workers from Myanmar who had alleged labour abuses in the country’s multimillion-dollar poultry export industry.
The 14 workers, all from Myanmar, filed a complaint in July 2016 against their former employer Thammakaset Farm 2, a poultry farm, which at the time supplied a number of high profile retailers in the UK and other countries. The workers alleged that they had been forced to work 22-hour days without overtime and to often sleep in the chicken sheds with 30,000 hens. They also said their passports had been confiscated and their freedom restricted.
The owner of Thammakaset Farm 2 filed defamation charges against the workers in October 2016, claiming their allegations were false and had damaged the farm’s reputation. The workers faced up to one year in prison and heavy fines if convicted.
The company is now appealing the court’s order to pay the workers 1.7m baht (US$48,600) by Thailand’s labour department, in compensation and damages for overwork and underpayment.

Migrant workers face criminal charges for reporting abuses07-02-2018

On 7 February 2018, 14 Burmese migrant workers were due to stand trial for defamation in a much delayed case. The charges had been brought by the poultry farm where they worked, Thammakaset Company Limited, after they reported the appalling abuse they had suffered.
The workers filed a complaint in July 2016 with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT), claiming that the company paid less than the minimum wage, failed to pay overtime, restricted workers’ freedom of movement and confiscated identity documents, including passports. In August 2016 the NHRCT found that Thammakaset Co Ltd failed to pay minimum and overtime wages as well as provide adequate leave, but rejected allegations of forced labour. The company’s response was to bring charges of criminal defamation against the workers for tarnishing its reputation. Thammakaset also brought charges in November 2016 against Andy Hall of the Migrant Workers’ Rights Network for commenting on the Burmese workers’ case in social media. In December 2016 a labour court found Thammakeset guilty of violating the Labour Protection Act, and ordered it to pay compensation, but the company has appealed to the Supreme Court.
Criminal defamation is increasingly used to deter migrant workers from reporting abuse. Migrants are already vulnerable, as they are not allowed to form trade unions to protect themselves.
At preliminary hearings in August 2017, Thammakaset revived theft charges against two workers for allegedly “stealing” their timecards (workers showed the cards to labour inspectors to prove claims of excessive working hours), despite a decision by the provincial prosecutor in June 2017 to drop these charges because they were without merit.
If found guilty, the Burmese workers could face up to a year and a half in prison, while Andy Hall could potentially face up to seven years in prison.

Auto parts company brings criminal charges against union leader31-10-2017

The auto-parts manufacturer Y-Tec brought criminal charges against union president Ruangsak Klaimala for submitting a complaint to the government employment arbitrator, the Labour Relations Committee (LRC), IndustriALL reported in October 2017.

Y-Tec had forced 32 union members to resign due to “restructuring” when they formed the Prachinburi Automobile Part Workers Union at the end of 2016. The union submitted a complaint to the LRC, and the company stepped up the pressure. It offered bribes to Ruangsak Klaimala to dissolve the union, set up video cameras to record union members, and conducted drug tests on them. Ruangsak Klaimala was transferred from his supervisor’s position to a newly created manual job at a lower wage.

Further to the complaint to the LRC, which ruled in the workers’ favour, Y-Tec filed a defamation charge against Ruangsak Klaimala for a post he wrote on social media and then dismissed him because he had criminal charges against him. The company has also filed defamation charges against an academic who wrote an article criticising their practices.

The LRC ordered the reinstatement of the dismissed workers, but instead of doing so Y-Tec has lodged an appeal against the decision, while pursuing its criminal case against the union president.

Tuna workers sacked for taking collective action09-03-2017

About 100 migrant workers from a tuna factory in Mahachai were sacked and forced out of their accommodation after they collectively complained that they had not been paid for 45 days.

Myanmar and Cambodian workers stopped working after they did not receive their wages, but the employer would not negotiate with them. The workers then turned to the Aid Alliance Committee for Myanmar Workers (AAC) and other rights organisations for help, complaining of their situation. The workers, who had been employed by the tuna company for years, were thrown out of the factory and out of their accommodation.

Car company sacks prominent labour activist15-04-2016

In April 2016, IT Forging (Thailand) Co., Ltd, an automotive manufacturer, submitted a petition to the Regional Labour Court to fire Boonyuen Sukmai, a labour activist who was awarded the 2014 Somchai Neelapaijit Prize for his work in promoting labour rights. Boonyuen was a member of the company’s employees committee, which was why the employer is required to obtain court permission to fire him.

According to the company he had overspent his leave of absence, thereby violating the company’s code of conduct. His active defence of workers’ rights may have been the real reason, however. He had been a member of the Labour Protection Department of the National Labour Council before serving in several other posts as a regional labour union leader in Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard. In addition to his activism with the labour unions, he opened his house to give consultations to workers, and was elected by the workers as an employee representative on the Social Security Committee of IT Forging in 2014.

Intimidation at International Women’s Day Rally08-03-2016

Police officers intervened in a rally held in Bangkok by workers from Try Arm, an underwear company founded by labour activists promoting fair labour conditions, to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March 2016. The officers confiscated a banner used by the group with the message “Stop [taking] civilians to the military court” and another banner promoting rights to abortion and elections, citing Section 44 of the Interim Constitution which gives them absolute power to maintain national security. The officers also attempted to verify the identities of workers to see if they were Thai by checking their ID cards. The police did not detain the workers, but said that the confiscated banners would be used as “evidence”.

Auto parts supplier dismisses founding members of union31-01-2016

Workers at Y-Tec Thailand, an automobile parts supplier based in Prachinburi province, founded their own union, the Prachinburi Automobile Workers Union, which was registered in January 2017. The company promptly sacked the union’s bargaining representatives and founding members.

New law used to repress peaceful union protest and intimidate leaders06-01-2016

On 6 January 2016, three police units backed up by military forces were used to break up a protest rally by 500 locked-out workers at Japanese-owned auto-part supplier Sanko Gosei outside the Ministry of Labour in Bangkok. The government invoked new powers under the Public Assembly Act 2015, which carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison for causing a disturbance or disruption of public services.

More than 600 Sanko Gosei workers, all union members, were locked out from their factory on 20 December 2015 after negotiations over a new collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement and bonuses broke down. The company claimed that it was unprofitable. In the meantime, however, casual workers were brought in to replace the locked out workers. The Sanko Gosei Workers Union accuses the company of using the dispute to bust the union and replace permanent workers with subcontractors.

After the rally was broken up, two union leaders, Chalee Loysoong, Vice President of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC) and Amorndech Srimuang, President of the Sanko Gosei Workers Union, were questioned by the authorities for about four hours. During this time their phones and ID cards were temporarily confiscated and they were escorted at all times, even to the bathroom. The union leaders had taken part in mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation
negotiations with Sanko Gosei and the Ministry of Labour during the day, as the rally was taking place outside.

The intimidation continued the next day when Wilaiwan Saetia, the President of the TLSC, was followed from the factory to her house by four or five military officers both in uniform and plainclothes. Yongyut Mentapao, Vice President of the TLSC, also reported that he had been followed by military and police officers from unidentified units.

The following week, on Wednesday 13 January 2016, five military officers visited Wilaiwan Saetia at the office of the Om Noi/Om Yai Labour Union in Samut Sakhon Province at around 8.00 p.m. At the discussion, which lasted until about 11.00 p.m., the officers cited their authority under Section 44 of the Interim Charter, which gives officers absolute power to maintain security, and informed the TLSC leader that henceforward she had to inform the military first before making any political moves.

Organising prevented in both law and practice07-10-2015

Thai law denies the majority of the country’s 39 million workers their trade union rights. Restrictions on organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. make it very difficult for temporary workers to join a union - and half of the workers in Thailand’s industrial workforce are temporary. The use of contract labour is also rife, heavily limiting unionisation, while foreign migrant workers – about ten per cent of the workforce – are prohibited by law from organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. or holding union office. This situation and a string of labour rights abuses led the global union Industriall to file a complaint with the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
on 7 October 2015, World Day for Decent Work, for violations of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
and the right to organise. Industriall points out that the law fails to provide the basic rights of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
to about 75 per cent of the workforce of 39 million people. As a result, Thailand has the lowest unionisation rate in southeast Asia, at 1.5 per cent.

The complaint lists 18 cases of abuses of fundamental trade union rights, including many cases of workers being sacked simply for belonging to a trade union. In one case, the employer sacked 60 per cent of the workforce and replaced them with migrant labour to prevent the formation of a trade union. It is difficult for workers to seek redress. Even when the courts have declared worker dismissals illegal, little is done by authorities to enforce the rulings. Companies are allowed to carry on excluding and intimidating trade union leaders.

Airline tries to destroy union by suing for damages over collective agreement10-08-2015

On 10 August 2015, four union leaders from Thai Airways International Union (TG Union) were ordered to pay over nine million US dollars in damages to Thai Airways, in a case involving peaceful protests in 2013 that resulted in a collective agreement.

The collective agreement was signed by the union and management in January 2013, after a two-day protest oversalaries and job security. The agreement granted increased pay and benefits not only for the workers but also for management level workers – including the airline’s then acting president. A year later, however, in January 2014, Thai Airways filed a damage suit of USD 9,281,349 against four of the union’s leaders who had signed the collective agreement with its management. The courts found in the airline’s favour in August 2015.

In January 2016 the TG union together with the State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation (SERC) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation lodged a complaint with the International Labour Organisation (ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
) about the government of Thailand’s failure to protect workers’ rights. Specifically, the complaint noted that the principle of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
was not enshrined in law.

State Railway of Thailand dismissed half of the union executive committee members30-04-2013

Following a derailment on October 5, 2009 that resulted in the death of passengers, members of the State Railway Union of Thailand (SRUT) announced that they would refuse to drive trains that had faulty safety measures and equipment. Although the SRUT executive committee members did not strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
, they organized a health and safety initiative. Soon after, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) dismissed about half of the union executive committee members.

On December 17, 2010, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand found that the SRT violated principles of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
and workers’ rights.

On July 28, 2011, the Central Labour Court upheld the dismissals anyway, also ordering the dismissed union committee member and leaders to pay approximately $500,000 USD in fines plus 7.5 percent annual interest accrued from the date of filing.

On August 10, 2011 the State Railway of Thailand, with the permission of the Central Labour Court, dismissed additional members of the SRUT executive committee, including its president. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court, where it could take at least several years for review. Even though their case awaits review in the Supreme Court, the executive members of the SRUT are no longer considered employees of SRT. Therefore, they are no longer officers or members of the committee and were not able to run for union office at the recent SRUT general assembly.

On April 30, 2013, a formal complaint was made for consideration by the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Committee on Freedom of Association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
against Thailand for failing to adequately respect the rights of trade unions.

TechnoPLAS dismissed eight of the union leaders30-01-2013

TechnoPLAS manufactures auto parts in an industrial estate in Chonburi, employing 463 permanent workers, 200 subcontracted workers, and 200 migrant workers from Cambodia and Burma. The workforce is mostly female.

In late 2012, workers began to organize and form a union and collected signatures to support and propose their demands to the company but negotiations with the employer were not successful.
On December 25, the workers received their union registration.

On January 23, 2013, however, the employer dismissed eight of the union leaders.
On January 30, the employer dismissed a further seven union leaders, claiming that that they were let go because of an organizational restructuring. The dismissed workers were pressured by the Labour Inspectorate to take a payout from the company to resign.

On May 29, the Labour Relations Committee released its verdict which called upon the employer to reinstate the remaining workers. During this protracted process, a total of 14 of the 15 workers took the payout from the company and resigned because of financial difficulties.

Refusal to bargain and anti-union discrimination24-12-2012

On 24 December 2012, management at Electrolux announced unilateral wage increases without engaging in negotiations with the Electrolux Thailand Worker’s Union. Requests to negotiate wages were disregarded. In January 2013, management repeatedly asked workers to refrain from engaging in union activities insisting that the unilateral wage increases determined by management were appropriate. During a meeting with management on 11 January 2013 the union President Phaiwan Metha was forcefully removed from the meeting and sent home. Management explained to the workers that he had been dismissed. In response to this unjustified dismissal, workers refused to return to work. Electrolux retaliated by forcibly detaining workers for more than 6 hours on the company lawn before dismissing 129 workers.

Nakashima Rubber Company refuses to reinstate the union leaders03-09-2012

The Nakashima Rubber Company operates a facility in an industrial estate located in Ayutthaya. The workers organized a union in 1995. On January 17, 2005, the company dismissed four union leaders including the president. At the time, the local union local union A local branch of a higher-level trade union such as a national union. had 1,045 members from a total work force of 1,400. About 350 of the workers were on short-term contracts hired through employment agencies. Immediately following the dismissal, the employer refused to allow the union leaders to enter the enterprise to meet with their members or to represent them. The company claimed that the four union leaders violated company rules pertaining to “union duty leave” but the union insisted that they had always asked the personnel office for permission. The company also accused the union leaders of changing their shift without notifying or receiving authorization from a manager, which the union refutes. Two of the union leaders decided to take a payout from the company and resigned. The other two union leaders, however, fought their case over a seven-year period and won in the Labour Relations Committee and the Central Labour Court but the employer continued to appeal the decisions and refused to reinstate the union leaders. Finally, on September 3, 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the company to reinstate the two dismissed union leaders. The employer, however, refused to abide by the Supreme Court’s decision. The two union leaders have now filed a lawsuit against the company for not complying with the Supreme Court’s decision.

Yum Restaurant International dismissed three union leaders 30-06-2012

Yum Restaurant International (Thailand) employs over 10,000 workers in the food and service industry. On May 9, 2011, the company dismissed three union leaders after they successfully registered a trade union and tried to propose their demands. The company then threatened union members by calling them into small group meetings or individual meetings in order to pressure them to resign from the union. Under financial distress, two of the union leaders accepted the company’s offer and resigned. The other union leader refused and took her case to the courts, where she won reinstatement. Although she was reinstated, the judge pressured her to be more conciliatory by accepting the money and dropping the case. She still returned to work and since then, the employer has isolated her to prevent her from talking with or representing her union members and has given her no work since June 2012 to demoralize her. The company continues to pressure her to take a payout and leave by putting her under video surveillance.

Iida Seimitsu refuses to bargain with workers27-04-2012

Iida Seimitsu is a manufacturer located in an industrial estate in Chonburi, and employs about 220 mostly female workers. In early 2012, the workers organized and registered their union. On March 30, 2012, the union proposed its demands to the company. Rather than negotiate in good faith, the employer proposed to take away many of the benefits the workers already had, an act which the workers believe was retaliation for organizing a union. On April 18, 2012, the employer demanded that the union drop all its demands. The provincial labor officer mediated two meetings on April 20 and April 25, 2012 but was not able to resolve the dispute. Instead, the employer locked out 112 union members and leaders on April 27, 2012. After several rounds of mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation
, the company agreed on May 18 to reinstate all of the union members but assigned them to cleaning jobs at 75 percent of their pay. Because of the discrimination and pressure they faced for being union members, many of the reinstated workers resigned. Soon afterward, the union ceased to exist and workers did not file any further complaints for fear of retaliation.

Union leaders locked out for more than one year20-04-2012

TRW Steering and Suspension, which operates a manufacturing facility in one of the industrial estates in Rayong, employs 150 permanent workers and 250 subcontracted workers (who are not eligible under Thai labor law to become union members of the existing industrial union industrial union A union whose membership is composed of workers in a particular industry, regardless of their profession or skill level.

See company union
at the facility). On March 30, 2012 the employer unilaterally increased wages without negotiating with the union. The increased wages were below what the workers were expecting, and they began to refuse overtime in protest. The union then proposed wage increases in line with the industry standard. On April 20, workers report that TRW announced a lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. of the three union leaders, including the president. TRW claimed that the union leaders led the workers to slow down the production, which caused damage to the company and violated the company’s rules. The company wrote in a letter to the local union local union A local branch of a higher-level trade union such as a national union. leaders that “the company found that you, together with some workers in the production line, intended to slow down the production.” The lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. continues, more than a year since it was implemented. Although many mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation
meetings were held involving the provincial labor office and labor court, the workers were pressured to accept an offer from the employer to drop their complaint and resign. Two of the locked-out union leaders insisted on reinstatement, while the locked out union president had to accept the company offer and resign because of financial difficulties. The remaining locked out union leaders believe that the labor courts and provincial labor office have not been working to reinstate them but are instead pressuring them to take the company offer and resign. The case is ongoing.

Union organisers often dismissed30-11-2009

Employers regularly dismiss workers trying to form trade unions, especially when workers are awaiting registration of the union (and therefore not yet covered by the laws protecting them from anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

). In other situations, they are dismissed for ostensibly non-union reasons invented by the employer and must challenge the firings in court.

Registration refusal30-11-2009

The government continued to refuse to register the National Thai Teachers Union (NTTU), which is affiliated to Education International (EI).

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