At long last, civil servants in Thailand get the right to unionise

Public Services International welcomes the news that a new law is in the works that will allow civil servants, ministry officials, department officials and provincial officials to unionise in Thailand. Public Services International has for many years advocated for recognition of trade union rights for civil servants in Thailand, and welcomes this historic announcement.

The draft royal decree will be submitted to the Cabinet for endorsement before it is enacted. The proposed legislation allows for four types of unions for civil servants, ministry officials, department officials and provincial officials.

According to news reports, when the prime minister was asked if he was worried such unions would boost permanent officials' bargaining power against ruling politicians, he responded: "It is their right." When asked to comment on the possibility of civil servants pressuring their politician bosses, the premier said it would be dealt on a case-by-case basis. "But at this stage, the OCSC has to guarantee the bureaucrats' Constitutional rights and liberty," he added.

The Constitution's Article 64 states: "A person shall enjoy the liberty to unite and form an association, a union, a league, a cooperative, a farmers' group, a private organisation, a private development organisation or any other group. Government and state officials shall have the liberty to assemble like other people provided their assembly does not affect the efficiency of public administration and the continuity of the provision of public services, as provided by law."

Jessada Prakobsap, an OCSC adviser on the bureaucratic system, told a reporter for the Thai news agency The Nation, that the draft law was based on existing laws regarding state enterprise labour unions, the establishment of societies and the Labour Act.

The draft law states that each union should have at least 20 per cent of all the officials in each of the state agencies as members, according to Jessada. The unions would be required to register with the OCSC's secretary-general.

He expected more than 200 unions of civil servants to be set up all over the country. "Unions are expected to help protect the rights of civil servants and provide official legal aid to their members," Jessada said.

Unions should not be established for political purposes and cannot be funded by any political parties or political office holders. The registrar is empowered to dissolve any union that violates this prohibition. The law also prohibits unions from holding any strikes or protests against the government.

OCSC secretary-general Nontigorn Kanchanachitra said that though he was concerned about problems erupting from the creation of unions because it was new for Thai bureaucracy, he did not believe there would be political intervention.