German IGBCE’s Training with Thai Union Ends in New Linde CBA

The Thai Industrial Gases Labour Union (TIGLU), part of ICEM affiliate Petroleum and Chemicals Workers’ Federation of Thailand (PCFT), benefited from a two-day training course presented by the German union, IGBCE, in Saraburi province, Thailand. The union achieved a new collective agreement with Linde at 13 Thai worksites immediately after, indicating the success of the workshop.

The agreement, signed last week on 20 April and running for three years, will see Linde pay 50% to the provident fund for workers with one-to-two years’ service, and 100% after two years. It also grants three days of paid paternity leave and increases the number of holidays for more senior workers.

Paid union leave was also won, which will prove valuable for trade union leaders in training and labour education, and health care coverage is now extended to retirees until the end of the calendar year in which they retire. TIGLU has had a rather contentious relationship with Linde Thai management, and the IGBCE training is seen as perhaps a benchmark toward a new, more positive relationship.

The new agreement covers 851 workers at the 13 workplaces.

The 16-17 April training was a follow-up to last year’s founding of an Asia-Pacific Network of Workers for trade unions of Linde, a German-based global producer of industrial gases.

The training was expertly organised by Yoon Hyowon, ICEM Asia-Pacific Project Coordinator, and included IGBCE’s Michael Wolters presenting an explanation of the German system of collective agreements and how to improve relationships with management. ICEM Thai Project Coordinator Aranya Pakapath also participated.

The workshop provided information on trade unions, the labour laws and political situation in Thailand, and a writing session to improve the writing skills of TIGLU colleagues. Further, Wolters organised a work group to prioritise bargaining demands and to gather collective arguments related to each demand.

All 18 participants from TIGLU felt secure in their upcoming arguments with management and gained realisation of the German management perspective. TIGLU and Linde’s prior 21-month collective agreement expired on 21 March.