Sackings row may go to ILO

The International Transport Workers' Federation is threatening to lodge a complaint with the International Labour Organisation over what it calls the unfair dismissal of six Thai railway staff.

The secretary of the ITF's Inland Transport Section, Mac Urata, said he was considering filing the complaint with the ILO because the six State Railway of Thailand workers had called for improvements in the safety of Thailand's railway operations.

Their action was an important issue, but the SRT responded by firing them.

Mr Urata, who has come to Thailand to investigate the dismissal of the six workers, said it was an extremely rare case, seldom seen in his long career working on inland transport issues.

He said he would travel to Hat Yai to talk to the former SRT staff.

The Hat Yai six were dismissed after they became involved in a strike from Oct 16 to 28 last year.

He also complained about working conditions for SRT officials. "[SRT] train drivers work 30 days in a row before they can take one day off, which I find unacceptable," Mr Urata said.

Members of the ITF, which represents 654 unions including the SRT union, yesterday met Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong about the conflict between the SRT and its labour union.

The State Enterprise Labour Relations Committee chaired by Mr Paitoon will decide tomorrow whether the SRT's dismissal of the six staff was legitimate.

The committee began considering the issue on Monday. They have looked into whether the SRT had a good reason to sack the six for striking in defiance of their supervisors, causing the state railway a loss of 70 million baht.