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Yesterday, Thursday, 17 May, 2012, Yan Chan Wai, a Chinese
national employed as a line-in-charge in the knitting department of the S.D.
Fashion garment factory in Mae Sot, Tak Province was fired on charges of
neglecting work duties. Fellow workers
at the factory believed that Yan Chan Wai was in fact fired because of his
close relations with the factory’s Myanmar migrant workforce who had recently
won a substantial wage increase through a strike they had carried out on 2-3
May. Shortly after Yan Chan Wai was
fired, approximately 100 workers from the knitting department gathered within
the factory compound in protest. These
workers told the manager that they wanted their colleague Yan Chan Wai
reinstated. The manager, however, did
not agree with their demand. The manager
then wrote down the work identification numbers and took photos of the workers
involved in this action.
(U Moe
Kyo and Yan Chan Wai)
Today, Friday, 18 May, 2012, shortly before the start of the
8:00 am shift, the manager of S.D. Fashion approached the factory’s roughly 600
workers and told them that were no orders and thus no work for them. He told them they should leave the factory
compound and that he would call them later if he got any orders. The workers, however, did not believe that
the factory was out of orders. They felt
instead that this claim was a response to the previous day’s protest action and
was an attempt on the part of management to remove key labour leaders from the
workforce prior to a negotiation meeting regarding overtime pay scheduled to
take place at the Thai Labour Protection Office (LPO) on 1 June. The workers did not comply with the manager’s
request for them to leave. Instead, they
waited inside the compound and contacted the Joint Action Committee for Burmese
Affairs (JACBA), which had previously provided them with legal assistance during
their strike. JACBA coordinator U Moe
Kyo then informed the Thai Labour Protection Office (LPO) of this case,
including the discharge of Yan Chan Wai and the manager’s attempted expulsion
of workers from the factory. In
response, an LPO official went to the S.D. Fashion factory and met with the
manager. The manager told the LPO
official that in fact the factory was not out of orders, but that he had wanted
to temporarily close operations in order to give the workers some time to rest. The LPO official told the manager to allow
the workers to go back to work. The
workers therefore returned to the production floor shortly before 1:00 pm and
resumed working. Meanwhile, Yan Chan Wai
and the S.D. Fashion manager met with officials at the LPO to negotiate
compensation for his sudden discharge on 17 May. The outcome of this meeting was that Yan Chan
Wai was awarded 33,167 baht, which covers 17 days of work in May (14,167 baht),
return air-fare to China (6,500 baht), and compensation (12,500 baht).
**Stephen Campbell**
Yesterday, Thursday, 17 May, 2012, Yan Chan Wai, a Chinese
national employed as a line-in-charge in the knitting department of the S.D.
Fashion garment factory in Mae Sot, Tak Province was fired on charges of
neglecting work duties. Fellow workers
at the factory believed that Yan Chan Wai was in fact fired because of his
close relations with the factory’s Myanmar migrant workforce who had recently
won a substantial wage increase through a strike they had carried out on 2-3
May. Shortly after Yan Chan Wai was
fired, approximately 100 workers from the knitting department gathered within
the factory compound in protest. These
workers told the manager that they wanted their colleague Yan Chan Wai
reinstated. The manager, however, did
not agree with their demand. The manager
then wrote down the work identification numbers and took photos of the workers
involved in this action.
(U Moe
Kyo and Yan Chan Wai)
Today, Friday, 18 May, 2012, shortly before the start of the
8:00 am shift, the manager of S.D. Fashion approached the factory’s roughly 600
workers and told them that were no orders and thus no work for them. He told them they should leave the factory
compound and that he would call them later if he got any orders. The workers, however, did not believe that
the factory was out of orders. They felt
instead that this claim was a response to the previous day’s protest action and
was an attempt on the part of management to remove key labour leaders from the
workforce prior to a negotiation meeting regarding overtime pay scheduled to
take place at the Thai Labour Protection Office (LPO) on 1 June. The workers did not comply with the manager’s
request for them to leave. Instead, they
waited inside the compound and contacted the Joint Action Committee for Burmese
Affairs (JACBA), which had previously provided them with legal assistance during
their strike. JACBA coordinator U Moe
Kyo then informed the Thai Labour Protection Office (LPO) of this case,
including the discharge of Yan Chan Wai and the manager’s attempted expulsion
of workers from the factory. In
response, an LPO official went to the S.D. Fashion factory and met with the
manager. The manager told the LPO
official that in fact the factory was not out of orders, but that he had wanted
to temporarily close operations in order to give the workers some time to rest. The LPO official told the manager to allow
the workers to go back to work. The
workers therefore returned to the production floor shortly before 1:00 pm and
resumed working. Meanwhile, Yan Chan Wai
and the S.D. Fashion manager met with officials at the LPO to negotiate
compensation for his sudden discharge on 17 May. The outcome of this meeting was that Yan Chan
Wai was awarded 33,167 baht, which covers 17 days of work in May (14,167 baht),
return air-fare to China (6,500 baht), and compensation (12,500 baht).
**Stephen Campbell**
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