State enterprises workers rally

About 200 members of the State Enterprises Labour Relations Confederation (SERC) rallied in front of Government House on Tuesday, demanding the dismissal of Transport Minister Sohpon Zarum and State Railway of Thailand governor Yutthana Thapcharoen.

The workers, led by Wilaiwan sae Tia, chairman of the Thai Labour Reconciliation Committee, submitted a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, calling for him to personally tackle the problems in the SRT, to ensure justice for members of the SRT labour union.

Ms Wilaiwan said the SRT's dismissal of six members of the rail union and its lawsuit in the Central Labour Court against seven union committee members demanding 70 million baht in reparations for damage caused by the strike amounted to abuse of power and intended to destroy the union's monitoring system and divert the people's attention from its inefficiency and lack of transparency in management.

In the letter, the SERC members called for the prime minister to revoke the dismissal order, withdraw the lawsuit against rail union leaders, remove Mr Sohpon from the transport portfolio and sack Mr Yutthana as SRT governor, set up a committee on development and rehabilitation of the SRT, and end every form of privatising of state enterprises.

They also called for state-run media to accurately report every angle of the problems in the SRT.