Thailand’s ministry of labor organized a series of meetings to promote better awareness of regulations on employment contracts and wage payments in the fisheries sector, part of a regulation in place since April 3.
This comes after NGO Human Rights Watch sent a letter to EU officials in July, claiming the Thai government has failed to address widespread labor rights abuses. Also, Thai fishing boat operators have threatened to stop going out to sea to catch fish if the government does not amend the rules.
Since February 2018, five meetings have been held in 22 coastal provinces, such as Trang, Samut Songkram, Songkhla, Petchaburi, and Samut Sakhon, with a total of 928 participants.
“The meetings were aimed at promoting legal practices and cooperation among stakeholders, as well as to ensure that laborers will be entitled to protection and benefits according to the law,” according to a statement from the Thai government.
The main focus of the meetings is to make the main points of the new regulation, which include the obligations that an employer:
- Record the documents relating to the payment of wages and overtime pay in Thai and keep them available at the workplace for inspection by labor inspectors
- Make correct payments within an agreed timeframe at least once a month;
- Make a monthly payment to employees according to the daily minimum wage multiplied by 30 days
- Make the wage payment via bank transfer
“Moreover, an employer engaging in overseas fishing shall install communication or satellite devices to facilitate messaging services not lower than one megabyte per person per month, in order for all crew to have access to communications and contact with authorities or their families at all times, the cost of which is to be borne by the employer,” the government said.
Thailand’s labor ministry has also cooperated with the International Labour Organization to publicize material on labor rights, providing basic information on proper wage payments and working hours, safety and hygiene at work, union organizing rights, and complaints-lodging channels.
They also provide the instructions on how to use the automated teller machines, 81 of which have been installed in the 22 coastal provinces, according to the statement.
The information is available in the form of leaflets and video clips that can be accessed via the QR code as shown on the leaflets, and, apart from the Thai version, are also translated into English, Myanmar, and Cambodian languages in order to truly reach out to all migrant workers, the government said.
Source: Undercurrent news
Published on August 14, 2018
https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2018/08/14/thai-govt-raises-awareness-of-labor-rights-in-seafood-sector/