Union boss wants rights for subcontract workers

>> Labour laws should be amended so as not to discriminate against “subcontract workers” by condoning unfair employment practices, said the Thai Confederation of Electronic, Electrical Appliances, Auto and Metal Workers (Team) secretary Chalee Loysoong.

Mr Chalee said he disagreed with the Labour Protection Act currently being amended in the National Legislative Assembly which still recognises the employment of subcontract workers.

Such legal recognition amounts to acceptance of unfair work practices despite a Supreme Court ruling.

He explained that subcontract workers are supplied to a private company by job placement firms.

These workers are technically and legally retained by the brokerage firms and are not entitled to equal pay and welfare benefits as employees of the companies they are sent to work in. This is despite the fact that these workers and company employees engage in the same work in the same workplace, according to Mr Chalee.

They also are subject to the same working conditions and regulations set by the company.

Mr Chalee said the Supreme Court issued a ruling number 22326022404/2555 six years ago stipulating that subcontract workers receive the same labour rights and benefits as the company’s permanent staff. The company must treat the subcontract workers the same as if they had recruited them directly.

Mr Chalee said subcontract workers lack job security as they sign a yearly contract with the placement firms. They earn a minimum daily wage with little or no employment benefits.

Where employment benefits are offered to them by some companies in which they are placed, the workers are given much less welfare and overtime than the permanent staff. The workers also do not receive bonuses.

The workers also usually forfeit their daily wages when they call in sick or take leave. The placement firms argue that they need to take away the sick worker’s wage to pay for replacement worker to be sent to the company.

“Being sick or going on holidays isn’t an option for these subcontract workers,” the Team secretary said.

In addition, the subcontract workers pay for their own company uniforms and, where necessary, safety gear too, while for permanent staff such costs are covered by the company.

Mr Chalee said subcontract workers have no negotiating power with their placement firms. They do not get to choose where they will be placed to work and are easily made redundant, sometimes without compensation. They are also the first to be laid off when businesses are hit by a financial crisis.