Thai court awards K100 million to sacked Myanmar workers

Sixty-five Myanmar workers, who were sacked by a Thai factory in Bangkok, have been awarded more than K100 million (Thai baht 2,751,000) in compensation, according to the Thai based Aid Alliance Committee (AAC).

Workers who sued the factory owners after being sacked and brought the matter to court four months ago were paid the compensation on March 31. Photo – Supplied

AAC member Ko Ye Min told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the workers who demanded for fair and equitable compensation and pressed for their rights were compensated by the pet food company that belongs to the Bangkok-based PCG Group.

“Forty-three workers who did not demand for compensation from the factory owners and the labour agency that engaged them were left out of the compensation package. The remaining 65 workers managed to get compensations because they believed in the labour rights and our labour rights society” Ko Ye Min said.

The 65 workers sued the factory owners after being sacked and brought the matter to court four months ago. They were paid the compensation on March 31.

According to to the AAC, initially, 108 Myanmar workers were dismissed but 43 withdrew from the case.

Thailand’s Labour Rights Department ruled that the factory must pay 3000 baht to the workers as the business owners failed to give
them proper notice.

Ko Ye Min said that according to Thai labour laws, factory owners have to compensate 9000 baht (one month wages) to the workers who have put in four months to a year in service.

Workers who have served for from one to three years, have been compensated with 27,000 baht (three month wages).

The PCG Group’s Thai Pet also had to compensate 54,000 baht (six month wages ) to the workers who have three to six years’ services and 72,000 baht (8 month wages) to those who have six to nine years’ services.

And workers who worked for nine years or more were compensated 90,000 baht, according to the AAC.

“Workers need to be patient if they face labour disputes in Thailand. They must be prepared to wait for a long time. Workers must have the will to confront delinquent employers. They also need to trust the labour organisation and seek their help,” Ko Ye Min told The Myanmar Times.

Out of the 65 workers, eight of them were employed under a joint MoU between the two governments while the others were living and

working in Thailand with temporary passports.
A total of 108 migrant workers, employed by the PCG group had been working for between one and 12 years, were sacked in November 2016, after the owners hired about 200 workers from Cambodia.

Speaking to The Myanmar Times, factory worker Ko Soe Hlaing Min, who put in two years’ service, said “Factory officials told us we don’t need to work anymore. They would not give us any more jobs. They also told us that we can report to any official but nothing will come of it.”

Myanmar embassy officials managed to help the workers to sue the factory owners, who dismissed the workers illegally in December 2016.

The Myanmar Times couldn’t reach embassy officials yesterday for their comments on the compensation package.

According to a statement by Thai based Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN), another 14 Myanmar migrant workers, employed at a chicken farm, were compensated 1.7 million baht because their labour rights had been violated.

The case of the 14 Myanmar migrants has prompted the Thai government to investigate all chicken farms and has taken action against those that have violated labour rights.

The 14 Myanmar migrants were awarded the human rights prize by a Thai human rights lawyer’s foundation.

 

By: Zaw Zaw Htwe, Myanmar Times

Published On: 4 April 2017