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29 Jul 11 ‘Shock and disbelief’ greet Thai labour court decision -- The ITF has responded with ‘shock and disbelief’ to today’s Thai Labour Court decision to allow the dismissal of seven leaders of the SRUT railway workers’ trade union for their part in a safety-related industrial action two years ago, and the imposition of a THB15 million fine against them. ( Laborstart )
29 Jul 11 Court orders SRT to sack 7 union bosses -- The Central Labour Court yesterday ruled that the State Railways of Thailand should sack seven leaders of its employee union and ordered them to pay the authority 15 million baht in compensation for damages resulting from a strike they organised in 2009. ( Bangkokpost )
28 Jul 11 Workers: Raise wage quickly -- About 20 members of a factory labour union in Rangsit area on Wednesday submitted a letter to Pheu Thai leader Yongyuth Wichaidit, demanding the party to push ahead with its 300 baht daily minimum wage policy. ( Bangkokpost )
28 Jul 11 Wage debate has come too late -- Ladies and gentlemen, why were you so quiet before the elections, when your in-depth studies might have swayed votes, either for or against? When the Pheu Thai said that their proposed reductions in corporate taxes would adequately offset the promised massive rise in minimum wages, why didn't you force them to show their studies - and scrutinise the assumptions and figures? If they'd refused, you should have done your own, and presented them for others to question. One of the key roles of associations, labour unions, think tanks, etc is to serve their members by making sure that what political parties promise and do is in their members' best interests - that's why an active civil society is one of former prime minister Anand Panyarachun's 7 Pillars of Sustainable Democracy. ( The Nation )
28 Jul 11 Minimum wage hike 'a challenge' for business: MPC -- In the minutes of its July 13 meeting, when the policy rate was raised for the fourth time this year to 3.25 per cent, the MPC said many members said the wage rise must be at levels commensurate with rising living costs. Many parties have voiced concerns over the Pheu Thai government's policy to raise the nationwide daily minimum wage to Bt300. ( The Nation )
26 Jul 11 Academics support wage rise proposal -- Academics and labour leaders have thrown their weight behind the Pheu Thai Party's policy to raise the daily minimum wage to 300 baht, but recommend that measures be drawn up to cope with employer concerns. ( Bangkokpost )
26 Jul 11 CP group ready to hike pay and boost growth -- Charoen Pokphand Group, the country's largest agro-business conglomerate, said yesterday that it stood ready to increase minimum wages to Bt300 and new graduates' salaries to Bt15,000 in line with the incoming government's policy pledges, in order to drive the country's growth and domestic consumption. ( The Nation )
22 Jul 11 Fishing industry wants illegals -- The National Fisheries Association of Thailand (Nfat) wants the government to allow illegal alien workers who are waiting for deportation to fill vacant jobs in the fisheries sector. "The sector needs 140,000 workers, but it can find only half of them," Nfat board member Mongkhon Sukcharoenthana said yesterday. ( The Nation )
21 Jul 11 Job-skipping migrants in crosshairs -- The Labour Ministry yesterday warned foreign migrant workers who have registered their employment that if they find work with another employer their work permits will be rendered invalid. ( Bangkokpost )
21 Jul 11 With Yingluck at PM, what's in store for Thailand? -- Pheu Thai's top candidate Yingluck Shinawatra has moved closer to becoming Thailand's first female prime minister following her endorsement by the Election Commission as an MP. Her government meanwhile is expected to be formed and to start working by the end of August. ( The Nation )
19 Jul 11 Labour demands promised wage rise -- The Thai Labour Solidarity Committee has called on the incoming Pheu Thai government to raise the minimum wage to 300 baht a day nationwide as it promised to do in its election campaign. ( Bangkokpost )
19 Jul 11 Criticism of minimum wage level unjustified -- Egon 's harsh criticism of Mr Burapa's letter on wages paid by foreign companies is as patronising as it is unjustified. I know of a Thai lady who not so long ago worked for a Japanese industrial manufacturer in Bangkok in the position of a supervisor of a group of 25 workers and earned no more than Bt231 per day plus an occasional weekly bonus of Bt200. Even if that may have reached by now the proposed minimum wage of Bt300, for that sort of money you can't afford any sort of accommodation on your own and have to share a room with five others to have a small sum left for living. ( The Nation )
18 Jul 11 Rioting workers to divide or concur -- A riot between Thai and Cambodian workers at a processed chicken factory in Nong Yai district has led its executives to float the idea of building a wall and a new walkway to keep the two groups apart. ( Bangkokpost )
14 Jul 11 Tak 'still faces labour shortage' -- "Registration of migrant workers has not stopped migration from border provinces to provinces that pay higher wages," federation secretary Chaiwat Vititamwong said yesterday. ( The Nation )
14 Jul 11 Wage hike worries workers -- All of them earn less than Bt300 daily, the minimum wage the Pheu Thai Party has promised the new government will introduce. ( The Nation )
13 Jul 11 Contractors seek remedy -- The new government should increase the minimum wage in steps over four years and revise up base prices of state construction projects to reflect the impact of labour costs, say contractors. ( Bangkokpost )
13 Jul 11 FTI slams proposed Bt300 minimum-wage hike, warns of serious impact -- Yesterday, it echoed concerns that the measure could damage new investment and force business activity into a dead end. ( The Nation )
12 Jul 11 Pay policy worries manufacturers -- "This means that we'll be in a difficult situation, as human-resource expenses will definitely surge. We may have to think about revising our production in Thailand to reduce the impact from higher costs," Anusorn Muttaraid, executive director of Delta Electronics (Thailand), said yesterday. ( The Nation )
12 Jul 11 Panel backs wage-hike plan -- The Wage Tripartite Committee yesterday voiced initial support for the Pheu Thai Party's controversial election promise to raise the daily minimum wage to Bt300. However, its provincial sub-committees later proposed a two-step approach - one for major provinces and another for the rest of the country - far below the Pheu Thai plan. ( The Nation )
11 Jul 11 Govt wage plan faulted -- The government should increase minimum wages in percentage terms to better reflect productivity, says a labour expert at the Thailand Development Research Institute. ( Bangkokpost )
07 Jul 11 3 sacked KFC staff take case to mediation -- Three KFC employees who were fired after trying to form a labour union have forwarded their case to the Labour Relations Commission for mediation. Krit Sruangaranon, Siwaporn Somjit and Apantree Chareonsak, who are former managers of KFC outlets in the Greater Bangkok area, yesterday petitioned the LRC. ( Bangkokpost )
07 Jul 11 Quality products, not cheap labour, Pheu Thai policy: Jaruphong -- "From now on cheap labour will no longer exist in Thailand, and with this policy, skills of workers will be upgraded and a policy to make only high-quality products adopted, to accommodate a party policy - Year 2020," he said. ( The Nation )
06 Jul 11 Labour demands quick wage rise -- A labour network has urged the Pheu Thai Party to honour its promise to raise the minimum wage to 300 baht per day as soon as possible, and demands that the new labour minister be a person who understands and respects the workers. ( Bangkokpost )
01 Jul 11 Aliens register -- Inspecting alien workers' registration processes in Chiang Rai's Mae Chan district, Somkiat said the ministry required employers to register immigrant workers in the month from June 15 to July 14. Up to June 29, 62,300 employers around the country have registered 396,936 immigrant workers. Of these, 286,542 are from Burma. ( The Nation )

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