En-masse leave of railway

A tripartite committee overseeing labour unions of state enterprises is set to make changes to regulations regarding holidays allowed to employees in the wake of the ongoing suspension of several train services and the leave taken en-masse by railway workers.

Labour Minister Phaithoon Kaeothong, as chairman of the State-Enterprise Labour Relations Commission, met with ministry officials, State Railway of Thailand management and railway workers on Thursday. He said leave being taken en-masse by railway workers "was not something that should have been done".

"The SRT labour union should possibly be warned that officials' leave should not affect the public, like it is doing now," he added.

Sawit Kaewwan, chief of all SRT labour unions, said state-enterprise employees and railway workers were entitled to take leave.

"Making changes to the existing regulations is a violation of their legal rights. The ministry should take care of workers, whose rights are being violated by their superiors," he added.

Sawit said the SRT management had not contacted the labour unions to sort out the differences, and that the strike was not politically motivated.

Sakdina Chatkul na Ayutthaya, a labour-law expert, said the strike was justifiable because the workers were protesting the lack of safety measures, but they should have notified the authorities in advance about their plans or should have staged a rally instead. He added that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajijva should directly address the issue.