Labour rows fall over past 3 months: govt

>> The kingdom has seen a reduction in labour disputes between employers and workers during the past three months, according to labour minister Suchart Chomklin.

The improvement was a result of the ministry’s effort in playing an assertive role in resolving problems between employers and employees through mediation, Mr Suchart told the media yesterday.

He said the campaign was introduced as the ministry foresaw more problems such as furloughs, lockdowns and salary issues caused by Covid-19. Mediation was carried out by the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW) from October to December — a period when employees often ask for pay raises and bonuses.

He said labour officials look into complaints and disputes before arranging mediation. This helped avoid the prospect of the disputes getting bogged down in the courts or causing further unrest.

“I am pleased to see the problems resolved, and that means we come from the right direction in terms of labour dispute mediation,” Mr Suchart said. Negotiations covered petitions for pay rises, fringe benefits and better welfare, and legal disputes and complaints.

The mediation process managed to bring employers and employees together to solve 531 out of 703 petitions, or about 75%.

For legal disputes, 104, or 85.95%, of 121 cases were settled through ministry mediation, while 98.5% of conflict cases, or 134 out of 136, between employers and employees were resolved.

These cases stemmed from four major sectors including automobile, electronics and hospitality. No details were available on which employers were involved. Apinya Sujarittanan, director-general of the DLPW, said the petitions, disputes and conflicts between employers and workers in 2020 were also reduced when compared with the previous year. In 2019, there were 278 petitions, 49 legal disputes and 26 conflicts, while 2020 had only 244, 33 and 23, respectively.