Tailandia - Migrant workers strike (2011)

About 300 Burmese migrant workers went on strike at Asian Seafood on 21 August when the company changed the payment of overtime from the legally required method to a production/piece rate based on each kilogram of shrimp the worker cleaned. Thai authorities arrested and detained eight workers in connection with the strike. More than 1,000 Burmese workers at the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory (Dechapanich), one of the largest nylon fishnet factories in the world, went on strike on 9 September to support their demand for reinstatement of six co-workers dismissed by the company the day before. The company dismissed the six workers for taking more than three days of leave each month. When the six dismissed workers demanded the return of their work documents, they found that the company had written the word “cancelled” next to their work visa. Also, the workers’ overseas workers identification card, issued by Burma’s Ministry of Labour, had been altered by putting photos and information other than that of the worker. Without proper work documents, the workers could not look for other work and were subject to deportation. The workers also complained that they were receiving THB 140 (USD 4.65) per day while the statutory minimum wage for Khon Kaen was THB 157 (USD 5.30) per day and that they did not receive any overtime pay. On 14 September, local immigration authorities reinstated the work visas for the dismissed workers, and on 15 September, Dechapanich agreed to return work documents to all employees. However, as of 8 October, there were still about 369 migrant workers who had still not received their documents.