Tailandia - Ricoh dismissed 41 workers to stop union registration (2012)

In December, Japan-based Ricoh International dismissed 41 workers and union activists at its plant in Rayong industrial zone in Rayong Province the day before workers were to register their union with the Thai Ministry of Labour. Ricoh manufactures printers and photocopiers and employs 724 workers at its factory in Rayong. The workers decided to form a union following three strikes over a three-year-period over labour rights, unsafe working conditions, low wages and forced overtime.