Dear Friends,

Find below an update on the case of Thai Kriang Durable Textile, provided by the Thai Labour Campaign. For more information please contact them at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it http://www.thailabour.org

The Thai Labour Campaign requests that people contact the Thai Labor and Social Welfare Minister to request they intervene on behalf of the workers.

Fax the ministry today:
Minister Labor and Social Welfare
Dindaeng, Bangkok, Thailand
Fax: 66-2-28-14358

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Update on Thai Krieng source: Thai Labour Campaign, Jan. 22, 2001

Thai Krieng Durable Textile Workers are still protesting at the Ministry of Labour. It is now the eighth month of their strike.

The situation should have been resolved after the Ministry of Labour ordered the company to reinstate all the workers on the 26th of October, 2000, citing an article 35 in the Labour Protection Act However, only 532 workers were reinstated. The company refused to reinstate an additional 390 workers, claiming that these workers had been dismissed before the article in the Ministry’s order would have been relevant. It is no coincidence that these 390 workers have been the leaders of the push for better wages and the leaders of the strike. These workers still continue their struggle demanding that they all must be reinstated.

Blatant Discrimination Against Union Members

Those who have been reinstated have also faced their own problems with work. On the 18th of November, a fire burnt down one of the buildings of the Thai Durable Textile factory. As a result, on the 23rd of November, the company announced a temporary emergency close down and put 532 workers on unpaid leave. In a blatant act of discrimination, the company put mostly union members on this leave, despite the fact that few of them worked in building A2. On the other hand, the company transferred 200 non-union workers from building A2 to other sectors. The workers placed on leave were told that they could not be paid because the situation was an emergency and that the factory would be reopened on the 23rd of December 2000.

Therefore, the fire should not be considered an emergency crisis and the company should be required to pay every worker their salary during the leave. The labour attache ordered the company to pay the workers that worked in A2 50% of their salary and pay those workers that were not working in A2 building 100% of their salary. However, the company still refused and appealed the case in court and it still has not been resolved

The company only allowed 200 workers to go back to work on the 23rd of December. Despite announcing that 184 workers would be called back on the 8th of January, only 48 workers were allowed to return. At this point, they have promised that 142 workers would be called in on the 1st of February.

In responding to the temporary shut down, the union sent a letter to the Samutprakarn Labour Attache claiming that the fire was due to company error and that the company had the full ability to prevent the fire but failed to do so. Therefore the fire should not be considered as emergency crisis and the company should pay 50% salary to every worker during the temporary shut down. The labour attache ordered the company to pay salary to the workers but the company still refused and appealed the case to court. According to Thai labour law, during temporary close downs, workers must receive 50% of wages.

After resuming full operations for only short period of time from the 23rd of December to the 18th of January, the company announced another temporary close down applying only to the 532 union members. They are currently being told they will be allowed back to work on February 1st.

In addition to the temporary close down, the factory also removed all the belonging of the 390 dismissed workers without permission from the workers in early January.

"The company ordered construction workers to just pack everything in the same plastic garbage bags. My Buddha statue was placed in my shoes which is very insulting. I lost a couple of my things like my watch and sun glasses. Construction work was occurring at the same time in the building, so the bags are full of dust. I should have had four bags of belonging but there are only 2 bags left,” described one worker.

The collaborative store of the union also was also packed up and removed as the union couldn’t remove all of the goods in time.

“This is to apply pressure to those 390 workers that still protest at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare," remarked one worker.

Now many of the workers have brought their belongings to the Ministry of Labour compound --wood and plastic wardrobes, tables, small television sets and plastic bags full of belongings. Many workers said that after 30 years of working these possessions are all they own and they cannot bring them back to their hometowns because they have no money to hire vehicles.

To make matters worse, according to one union committee member, the company owes 5,500,000 baht to the worker's cooperative fund that it is refusing to pay.

Company Tactics and Profit Seeking

The company recently made a move selling 51% of its shares to the Hong Kong based Wing Wah Company through Wing Wah Advisory (Thailand) Limited as reported in the Manager Newspaper on 4th January 2001. Thai Durable Textile Company also has signed a Debt Definitive Restructuring Agreement for 670 million baht worth of debt with the Bangkok Bank on the 28th December 2000. Now the company is engaged in the construction of several new buildings and is ordering new machines.

The selling of shares explains why since the beginning of the protest the company used such blatant violence against the workers - Wing Wah demanded that they will only buy company shares if there is no union.

The company has used a famous lawyer, Mr. Paiboon Thammasatitman, to trick workers into violating the labour law such as to sit in the factory building. The company has then sued these workers for over 3 billion baht. The company knows very well that they will never win this case and get any money from the workers, but it is a technique to bring confusion, difficulty and fear to the workers. It also works to slow down the struggle, as many workers have to stand for trial many times.

Since the workers have not given up the fight even though it has been 8 months, the company has offered 8 million baht to the union committee members to close the case. The union leaders have refused.

One of the things that the company underestimates is the tight relationships of these women workers. Most are over 40 years old and 30% are single. Considering that many of these workers have been working for Thai Durable Textile for more than 20 years, seeing each other every day and sleeping in the same quarters, the company is like a home to them and the union like family. They have sacrificed many of their life’s opportunities for the company’s growth. Many have not been able to get married due to working 12 hours a day for twenty years in a mostly female environment. It is difficult to have the energy to go out and socialize after long strenuous work days.

It is due to these life sacrifices that workers have made, their close friendship to each other, and their belief in work with dignity and fairness, and the understanding of the importance of the Thai Krieng Union in the Thai labour movement that they continue their struggle.

Report by Junya Yimprasert, Thai Labour Campaign

more info at: http://www.thailabour.org/campaigns/thaidurable/index.php?view=article&id=5l