Labour leaders sacked after strike in footwear factory

Tuesday, 26 January 2010 21:26 Sai Zom Seng

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Four labour leaders, who spearheaded a strike demanding a wage hike at the Osaka footwear factory in Mae Sai, Thailand, across Tachileik in Burma, were sacked on Tuesday.

Despite work permits, the Burmese migrant workers do not get wages equal to their Thai counterparts. So all 72 migrant workers staged a walk-out demanding a wage hike to the tune of 10 Baht per day on January 23 afternoon. The four labour leaders were dismissed today.

Though Thai workers are paid up to Baht 130, Burmese migrant workers get only Baht 80 to 110.

The agreement with the employer states workers have to get three months’ salary as compensation if they are dismissed from work. But the workers were not paid the compensation. On the contrary the employer demanded Baht 160,000 as damages from them on account of the strike, which allegedly resulted in a loss to the business.

“They asked us if we would accept three months salary as compensation and pay Baht 160,000 as damages at the same time. The other option was that we do not demand three months salary and they would waive Baht 160,000 sought as damages. Then they drove us out of the factory premises without paying compensation,” one of the labour leaders, who was fired told Mizzima.

Despite repeated attempts to contact over telephone Osaka footwear factory management was not available.

Most workers in the factory are women migrant workers from Meiktila and Mahaling in Mandalay Division. Some of them have been working in the factory for about nine years.

The factory pays only Baht 10 to 15 per hour on account of overtime depending on the period of service. The senior Burmese workers get about Baht 3,200 per month as wages.

Some officials from Chiang Mai based MAP Foundation, which provides assistance to Burmese migrant workers, left for Mae Sai today to intervene in the dispute at the factory.

“We shall reach Mae Sai this evening. There is the BE 2542 Act in Thailand which stipulates that all workers are entitled to equal pay for equal work irrespective of their nationality and it does not matter whether they are documented or undocumented workers,” a MAP Foundation official said.

Though there are not too many factories in Mae Sai, the Osaka footwear factory is the biggest, it is learnt.