AN ANALYSIS ON THE CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS CONFRONTING THE FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OF PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS

IN THAILAND
Prepared by Mr. Bundit Thanachaisethavut

This report was commissioned by Public Services International Asia Pacific Regional Office in cooperation with International Labour Organization (ILO) ACTRAV Regional Office Bangkok, Thailand

Introduction There are various forms of Public Service Sector in Thailand like government agencies, state enterprises, public companies, government entities but not in term of government organisation or state enterprises. Capitalism and globalization forced the government to set up privatization policies. Government could not monopolize public services for the wel being of public in general as it was. These forced the governemnt to privatize public services in the 4 main concepts as following: 1. Assignment to private sector in managing public property 2. Contracting out of management in public services 3. Employment of management 4. Concession Worker in public servises including civil servants, public servants, state enterprise employees, permanent workers, temporary workers or public officials. Pernanent civil servants means civil servants excluding political civil servants which could be classified as 3 types as 1. Civil servant such as regular civil servant, teacher, police officers, judicial officials, public prosecutors, parliamentary officials 2. Military officials 3. Local government officials In each type of civil servants got their own acts which explain all details on various issues like recruitment, promotion, disciplinary, retirement. Civil Service Act 2008 is considered a master law. It is being recognized as an important law and related to most of civil servants. It is a master law and being used as a reference for other types of cilvil servant acts. In many cases, some provisions of the Civil Service Act 2008 have been applied to other types of cilvil servant acts. For example; - Public Teacher and Educational Personnel Act, B.E. 2547 (2004): The section 38: In this regard, to bring civil service regulations in concerning to the determination of level, position and the provision of salary and allowance to be applied mutatis mutandis. - Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Act, B.E. 2528 (1985): The section 8 states that: to bring civil service regulations to be applied Bangkok Metropolitan Administration officials and public teacher laws to be applied Bangkok Metropolitan Administration teacher

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International labor standards and national laws to promote freedom of association and collective bargaining, and protection of public services

(1) ILO Convention 87: Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 And ILO Convention 98: Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 Main content Convention 87 Principles of Convention 87 are to promote Workers and employers right to establish and to join organizations of their own choosing and to protect their interests without interference by authorized officials. Main content are as follows; 1. The territories in respect of which it undertakes that the provisions of the Convention shall be applied to all workers and employers both in public and private sector, including public servant. 2. The extent to which the guarantees provided for in this Convention shall apply to the armed forces and the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations. 3. Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization. 4. Workers and employers shall have the right to establish and voluntarily affiliate with organizations.
4.

Main content Convention 98 Principles of Convention 98 are to protect Workers from discrimination, interference between workers and employers, and to promote voluntarily collective bargaining. Main content are as follows;
1.

This Convention does not deal with the position of public servants engaged in the administration of the State, nor shall it be construed as prejudicing their rights or status in any way. The extent to which the guarantees provided for in this Convention shall apply to the armed forces and the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations. Workers shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment. Such protection shall apply more particularly in respect of acts calculated to make the employment of a worker subject to the condition that he shall not join a union or shall relinquish trade union membership. Workers' and employers' organizations shall enjoy adequate protection against any acts of interference by each other

2.

3.

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5. Workers' and employers' organizations shall have the right to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programs. 6. The public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof. 7. Workers' and employers' organizations shall have the right to establish and join federations and confederations and any such organization, federation or confederation shall have the right to affiliate with international organizations of workers and employers. 8. The registration as a juristic person of Workers' and employers' organizations cannot be restricted. 9. Government has to establish measures to protect the right of association so that Workers and employers shall enjoy adequate right of association.

or each other's agents or members in their establishment, functioning or administration.

5.

Measures appropriate to national conditions shall be taken, where necessary, to encourage and promote the full development and utilization of machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers or employers' organizations and workers' organizations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements.

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(2) Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007 2.1 Freedom of association

Section 64: A person shall enjoy the liberty to unite and form an association, a union, league, cooperative, farmers group, private organization or any other groups. State officials and employees, like other citizens, have the right to join groups, unless it has no impact on the administration of the country and consistency in the provision of public services. Restriction on rights and liberties under paragraph one and paragraph two is prohibited except by virtue of the law specifically enacted for protecting the common interest of the public, maintaining public order or good morals or preventing economic monopoly. 2.2 Economic policy Section 84: The state shall implement the economic policy as follows: (10) The state shall provide basic public facilities necessary for the people to live on. (11) Any activities / establishment that cause damage to basic infrastructure or network of public utilities necessary for people to live on, or that owned by the government with less than fifty-one percent is prohibited. 2.3 Public Participation Policy in providing public services Section 87: The state shall implement the Public Participation Policy as follows: (1) The state shall encourage people to participate in laying down economic development policies and plans at both local and national levels. (2) The state shall promote and support public participation in political decision making process and in laying down socioeconomic and political development plans and public services. 2.4 Public Participation Policy in providing public services by local government organization Section 281: The state shall give local government organization freedom to be the main institution in providing public services and to participate in the process of the decisionmaking for problems in the area of the locality.

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(3) State Enterprise Labour Relations Act 2000 Main content of this Act can be summarized as follows; 3.1 Rights to establish Union State Enterprise Union

A Labour Union shall be established by not less than twenty-five percent of the total number of employees. The objective is to promote a good relationship between employees and employers, as well as among employees, to consider rendering assistance to its members in pursuant of any complaint, to protect employees interests relating to employment conditions and to corporate with a view to enhance the capacity and to protect the interest of the State Enterprise. (Section 40-44) State Enterprise Federation

Ten or more labour unions may form a federation in order to protect their interests relating to employment conditions, to promote good education and good relations among people in State Enterprise once it is registered as a juristic person. State Enterprise Federation shall affiliate to National Labour Center according to the Labour Relations Act 1975 (Section 72) 1.2 Rights for collective bargaining

(1) The rights to present the demand and the negotiation process in this Act are rather similar to the Labour Union Act 1975. Some differences are the duration of each procedure and in case of any disputes, the Committee members of labour union shall make arbitration. In any case, a Lock-out by employers and a strike by employees are prohibited. (Section 25-33) (2) There is the State Enterprise Labour Relations Union which is a national tripartite committee. Its duty is to specify minimum standard of employment condition to every state enterprise, judge labour dispute, etc. (Section 8 and 13) (3) There is the Enterprise Relations Committee in every state enterprise which is a bilateral committee. Its duty is to give advice for mutual understanding and find the solution to reconcile employers with employees. (Section 19 and 23) 3.3 Process of judgment concerning the establishment of organizations and negotiation according to the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act, B.E. 2543 (2000)

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(1) In case a registrar orders not to take up registration of establishment of organizations, the applicant has right to appeal to the Minister within 30 days starting from the day receiving orders. An appellate decision of the Minister is considered a final decision. (Section 47) (2) The registrar has an authority to discharge the Labour Union Committee when the Union, according to the regulated law, does not correctly follow the objectives of the Union, obstruct the Committees duty or allow a non-committee to perform actions, etc. (Section 63) (3) The registrar has right to terminate the Union in case of unlawful registration process, illegal or harmful Unions actions toward economy or national security, discontinuous working process of the Union for more than 2 consecutive years, etc. (Section 66 states that means principles and conditions ) For the (2) and (3), the defendant has right to appeal to the Minister. (4) Employers are prohibited to terminate the employment or transfer the job responsibility of employees during the negotiation process. If not, it is a criminal penalty. The victim has right to sue to both Labour Court and the criminal justice process. (Section 34) (5) Employers cannot lay-off or perform any actions to employees who are in collective bargaining, claim of rights or process of judgment. The employers cannot interfere, obstruct or threaten the operation of employees organization. If disobey, employees must file a complaint to the State Enterprise Labour Relations Committee within 30 days starting from the day of being damaged before bringing the case to Labour Court. (Section 38)

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(4) Civil Service Act, B.E. 2551 (2008) The Civil Service Act, B.E. 2551 (2008) modifies Civil Servant rules and organization which contain 3 principle points: 1. To let the Civil Service Commission (CSC) manage human resources of executives. 2. To let Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) be the authority for the operation of the Civil Service Commission and the Merit System Protection Commission but not duplicating the Public Sector Development Commission (PDC). 3. To modify the positions of ordinary civil servants to be categorized by jobs types and more decentralize the governmental human resource management to original affiliations. The Law states that Office of the Civil Service Commission has the Secretary General of the Civil Service Commission which commands civil servants and manages Office of the Civil Service Commission. It is directly under the Prime Minister. In addition, an ordinary subcommittee was established, called the Civil Service Sub-Commission (CSSC), to be governmental organization for human resource management in government sectors such as Ministry CSSC, Department CSSC and Province CSSC. The Merit System Protection Commission (MSPC) was firstly created along the Civil Service Act, B.E. 2551 (2008). It is expected to effectively protect civil servants and has more freedom as before. In conclusion, there are now 3 participle commissions related to governmental administration namely: 1. The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has its duty to manage human resources along the Civil Service Act, B.E. 2551 (2008); 2. The Public Sector Development Commission (PDC) has its duty to arrange the structure of governmental sectors along the State Administration Act, B.E. 2534 (1991); 3. The Merit System Protection Commission (MSPC) has its duty to protect civil servants along the Civil Servant Act, B.E. 2551 (2008). Government employees are the persons employed by an employment contract and receiving allowances from the budget of their government sectors along the Regulation of the Prime Minister Office on Government Employee, B.E. 2547 (2004).

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Permanent and temporary employees of government sectors are designated along the regulation of Ministry of Finance and related Council of Ministers Resolutions. The policy on limiting the amount of civil servants and government employees affects several government sectors. They have to increase the amount of workers for public services by hiring them as temporary employees or employees on subcontract for services which terminate within 1 year. They can be hired by annual budget or nongovernment budget but obtain a small amount of wages for long without working stability and welfare as civil servants or other employees in private sector. The Civil Service Act, B.E. 2551 (2008), Section 43, states that Civil servants have the liberty to assemble as a group as provided in the Constitution, provided that such assembly does not affect the efficiency of national public administration and continuity of public services and must not have a political objective. The rules, procedures and conditions for assembly under paragraph one shall be as prescribed by Royal Decree. For the draft Royal Decree on the Freedom of Association of Thai Civil Servants of , created along the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, Section 64, and the Civil Service Act, B.E. 2551 (2008), Section 43, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) approved resolution in December 2011 and passed the consideration of the Royal Decree Commission and is waiting for the approval of the Council of Ministers. It consists of essences as follows: 1. Be able to assemble to establish Government Unions divided into 5 types as 1.1 Ordinary Civil Service Union 1.2 Government Official Union under the same department 1.3 Government Official Union under the same ministry 1.4 Provincial Government Official Union in the same province 1.5 Government Official Union in the administrative position 6.6 Other types of Government Official Union that Official of the Civil Service Commission specifies 2. Objectives of Government Official Union 2.1 To encourage a good relationship between the members of Government Official Union and the commanders and among the members themselves 2.2 To assist the members regarding disciplinary action, appeal, and petition together with giving counsel and providing lawyers or consultants in case of being taken on disciplinary action or on-duty civil liability

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2.3 To seek and protect the privileges about the Government Official Union of its members in forms of giving counsel or hearing out petitions from the members or offering opinions on any enactment of regulations about the Government Official Union 2.4 To operate and cooperate to enrich the efficiency and protect the benefits of government service, along with providing useful information to perform government services and training to increase performance capacity of the members 3. A Government official has right to be a member of Government Official Union for more than 1 type of Government Official Union, except that only the administrative government officials who hold the position in administration can join more than 2 Unions that are combined to Government Official Federation no matter they are the same types or not. 4. Each type of Government Official Union must have more than 20 percent of the total amount of members who have right to be part of the Union. Within over 20 percent, more than 10 members are prerequisite to request the certificate of the Unions establishment to the registrar, together with regulations, name list, and signatures confirming the intention being the members in the Union which the members have right to join. 5. In each ordinary general meeting of Government Official Union, the numbers of the members who come to the meeting must have more than the moiety of all members to be counted as a quorum. For an extraordinary general meeting, the numbers of members who can request the Union Committee to hold the meetings must be more than 1 in 5 members. 6. The Secretary General of the Civil Service Commission is the registrar who approves the certificate of establishing Government Official Union and Government Official Federation, is legally authorized to end the Union, and is authorized to order the Union Committee to vacate the office. The Official of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) has authorities and functions in taking care of, giving advices, keeping track, and evaluating the establishment and the performance of Government Official Union and Government Official Federation, including diagnosing the problems occurred from following the Royal Decree. Applicants who request the establishment of Government Official Union and Government Official Union Committee have rights to appeal to the Civil Service Commission within 10 days starting from the date that the applicants are informed the directive of disapproval or revocation of the Union or command the Union Committee and the Government Official Federation to vacate the office, as the case may be. The situation of the unification of Labour Unions for public services Case study State Enterprise Labour Union

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The State Enterprise Labour Union was established after the coup dtat led by National Peace Keeping Council or NPKC on February 23, 1991 because the coup dtat council realized that State Enterprise Labour Union, which was under Labour Relations Act, B.E. 2518 (1975) as well as employees in private sector, had the leading role before 1991 in causing Thai Labour Movement to negotiate many affairs, and might make the power of the coup dtat council insecure. The NPKC, therefore, urgently pushed on National Legislative Assembly of Thailand which consisted of individuals from both government and coup dtat council to both execute and approve the bill of The State Enterprise Employee Relations on April 19, 1991. The purposes of the bill were to abolish the Labour Union and the Employee Committee in every state enterprise and to establish the organization in form of the State Enterprise Employee Association. The State Enterprise Employee Association had many limitations in the right of unification and negotiation such as prohibition of cooperating with Labour Unions in private sector to establish Labour Federation and National Congress of Thai Labour, establishing the association with the members of at least 30% of the total employees, no right to request and negotiate on working condition, and prohibition of going on strike in every circumstances, but consulting with each other only, etc. Many State Enterprise Employee Associations unified with each other to demand many governments after NPKCs period to restore the Labour Unions for state enterprises. However, the State Enterprise Employee Associations did not negotiate with government to re-enact Labour Relations Act, B.E. 2518 (1975), the same edition that allowed the unification with Private Labour Unions. Until the congress abolished the State Enterprise Employee Relations Act, B.E. 2534 (1991) and agreed to enact the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act, B.E. 2543 (2000) on April 8, 2000 thenceforward. When considering the important contents of the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act, B.E. 2543 (2000), the contents still inherit 4 old principles of laws from the State Enterprise Employee Relations Act in the dictatorial period of NPKC. The contents include 1. The State Enterprise Labour Union has right to cooperate with the Private Labour Union to establish Labour Federation and National Congress of Thai Labour; 2. Each state enterprise is allowed to have only 1 Labour Union; 3. Under any circumstances, the state enterprises employees are prohibited to go on strike and the definition of go on strike has the broad meaning of which the employees do not work or slow down the work process to make the entire work process or part of the process stuck or slowed down. 4. Labour Relations Committee, which is a bilateral for consultation in every state enterprises, shall be established. Labour Relations Office, Department of Labour Protection , Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare declared that (May, 2012) there are 67 organizations can be defined as state enterprise according to the description in The state Enterprise Labour Relations Act B.E. 2543 (A.D 2000). There are 258,241 state enterprise employees and 23,268 temporary workers which is 281,509 in total. 45 of 67 state enterprises have

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state enterprise labour union, one state enterprises workers federation and 179,253 members of state enterprise labour unions or 63.68 percent of the number of all state enterprise employees and temporary workers. Whilst there are 1,338 unions in private sector (19 Labour Federations and 13 Labour Congresses). The number of private union member is totally 388,132. Other than the formats of state enterprises workers federation as mentioned in law, there are also other types of domestic and international cooperation of union which are members of related international labour federations as following; (1) The State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation (SERC) Is comprising of 40 state enterprise labour unions and 8 branch offices in Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Sawan, Uttaradit, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Phuket. SERC is an international state enterprise labour organization that doesnt enroll with government or need to be authorized by law since it is a collective bargaining of existing state enterprise union network and it is defined as a freedom of association by constitution. (2) State Enterprises Workers Federation of Thailand (SEWFOT) Comprising of 14 state enterprise labour unions. Founded in 1908, this state enterprises workers federation secluded from SERC according to conflict between union leaders on privatization preventing policy. Anyway, most of unions under SEWFOT dont seclude from SERC. (3) State enterprise labour unions under Public Service International (PSI) 1. Labour Union of Govermment Pharmaceutical Organization (LUGPO) 2. Labour Union of Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (LUMWA) 3. Labour Union of Provincial Waterworks Authority (LUPWA) 4. Labour Union of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (LUEGAT) 5. Labour Union of Metropolitan Electricity Authority (LUMEA) 6. Labour Union of Provincial Electricity Authority (LUPEA) 7. Labour Union of National Housing Authority (LUNHA) 8. Government Employee Association of Thailand (GEAT) 9. Paolo Memmorial Hospital Workers Union (Private) (4) State enterprise labour unions under International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) 1. Aerothai State Enterprise Union (Aerothai Union) 2. The State Railway Workers Union of Thailand (SRUT)

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3. 4. (BMTA-SWU) 5. 6. (TAT Union) 7. (AOT-SWU) 8. (LU-ETA) 9.

Thai Airways International Union (TG Union) The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority State Enterprise Workers Union The Transport Co.,Ltd State Enterprise Empoyees Union (TRAN-U) Tourism Authority of Thailand State Enterprise Employee Union Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited State Enterprise Worker Union. The State Enterprise Labour Union of Expressway Authority of Thailand The Transport Workers Union of Thailand (TWUT) (Private)

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ANALYSIS AND CHALLENGES

First, Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E 2550 (A.D. 2007) is the first constitution legislating government official and state employee have freedom of association as individuals if it is not affect the efficiency in state administration and continuity of public service providing as legislated in law. The problem is the constitution has specified that the freedom of association of government official and state employee shall be as defined in law. It is not clearly declared that the association is for collective bargaining on employment and working condition as private employee which leads to misunderstanding. Some may understand that civil servants and state employee have freedom of union establishment for collective bargaining as private employee as mentioned in the state enterprise labour relations Act B.E. 2518 (A.D. 1975). Moreover, the civil service Act B.E. 2551 (A.D. 2008) has restricted the freedom of association only allow for civil servants but excluding other state employee. Second, Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E 2550 (A.D. 2007) specifies that the government has to support a free economic system and is prohibited to operate any competitive business except it involves with national security, public benefit or public utility. It is clearly specified that; - The government is responsible for providing public utility which is indispensible for living and national security. - The government may give an opportunity for private sector to providing public utility under governments monitoring. However, the government must prevent the monopoly by private sector. Also, the constitution has a regulation about Privatization Policy; - If the privatization is inevitable, it shall be done partially and not in a public utility network and structure and shall not be transferred into private ownership. - Infrastructure which is necessary for providing public utilities such as railway or railway station, electricity post, power grid, power station, telecommunication network,

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satellite or satellite orbit are ineligible to be privatized. It shall not be transferred into private ownership. - The state enterprise operating public utilities or affect national security such as water supply, electricity, port, airport or telecommunication shall not be transferred into private ownership. Consequently, state enterprise union and alignment will refer to the intention of the constitution to prevent the public utility, infrastructure, from the privatization, the transfer into a private ownership or the monopoly by private sector. The remark is the constitution doesnt prohibit all of state enterprise but only ones operating public utilities and Infrastructure from privatization. Third, The keynote of the state enterprise labour relations act B.E. 2543 (A.D 2000) doesnt accord with Convention No. 87 and 98 (1) Scope of law enforcement and discrimination 1.1 Separate the association of private employee and state enterprise employee 1.2 Executive or temporary worker of state enterprise dont have a right to establish a union or become a member of a union. 1.3 Government has an authority to issue a royal decree to except the enforcement. 1.4 Only Thai workers can establish a union. (2) The state enterprise employee is capable of being a member of only one union. Each state enterprise is capable of establish only one union as well. (3) The employee must apply the union to the registrar for investigation and issuing a certificate of registration and regulations of the union. To set up a union, there has to be a list of names and signatures of employees who are union members, not less than 25 percent of all employees as regulated by the Director of the Department of Labour Protection. As a result, union establishment process is difficult for state enterprises with multiple branches and their executives do not cooperate. (4) The registrar is an civil servants empowered to the dismiss the union committee or disestablish a union. The registrar also can appeal to the Minister and. Minister's decision shall be final. It does not need any approval by trustworthy board of directors.

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(5) State employee has an authority to command committee or member of a union to act or refrain any act in order to comply with the "state Enterprise Labour Relations Act" or the union regulation. State employee can get into the union office to monitor union activities or order the committee, union members or officials, send in documents or accounts of the union for the consideration of the issue. The law does not clearly define the issues that the government is capable of intervention. (6) Regardless of dispute, the employee of public utility services that are essential to life and society is prohibited to strike in all circumstances. Convention No. 87 does not expressly mention the right to strike. It is mentioned as a fundamental right or bargaining measurement of workers organization to acquire and protect the interests of employees, since the employee or worker's bargaining power is not equal to the employer's. Nevertheless, it must be understood that a right to strike is not absolute. It has to be considered thoroughly if it has an effect on the lives of individuals or society. The Committee on Freedom of Association and expert of ILO (International Labour Organization) have prohibitions of right to strike for; 1) Some types of government officers, acting on behalf of the state, such as judicial officers, police officer and military officer 2) Employee in indispensible public service 3) Circumstance of national crisis or emergency situations which affects the normal living of people and society such as natural disasters or terrorism, the strike is prohibited for it can harm people's life, health or safety. When the right to strike cannot be used, there should be other mechanisms to suspend or terminate such dispute such as the arbitral tribunal's decision or other decisive, fair and urgent mediation processes in which all parties can participate. These services are not defined as indispensible public service. Employee and worker have right to strike; 1. Radio and television broadcasting 2. Petroleum industry 3. Bank 4. Computer services concerning with taxation 5. Department store and amusement park 6. Minerals and metals mining 7. Transportation business 8. Refreshment business 9. Construction business 10. Plant/Construction/Development cars/car renting 11. Aircraft maintenance business 12. Farming activities and foodstuff activities 13. Education business 14. Post business 15. Cigarette business

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Fourth The Importance of Civil Service Act B.E.2551 section 43 and Draft Royal Decree about association of civil servants which is inconsistent with section 87 and 98 1. According to the Convention number 87 which apply with workers from government sector and private sector including civil servants, but except military and police forces that shall be accordance with the law in that country, but Civil Service Act and the draft ordinance comply only civil servants could establish labour union and this does not include temporary employee and state official working in bureaucracy. 2. Requirement that registrar of official union which is Secretary of Office of The Civil Service Commission has the authority to issue the Union Certificate , to abrogate the union and has the authorization to repeal the Union member, and could authorize the union or board of director to appeal at Office of The Civil Service Commission but they must accept that the decision of Office of The Civil Service Commission shall be final. The discretion is granted to public authority to establish the union and could title board of directors and could retard the unfair designation of board of directors because the Secretary of the Office of the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Civil Service Commission is under control of Political sector. If political sector or government disagree with the unionization, the board of directors of the Office of the Civil Service Commission shall act to meet the demand of cabinet which the Prime Minister is the president by ex officio. 3. The requirement that the union must has the name list stating their intention to be the member of that union at least 20% of the civil servants that are eligible to be member and must has the procedure to verify that name list and lodge a request to registrar for consideration to issue the certificate, this shall intervene and cause the difficulties to establish the union.

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Fifth The workers and the civil servants who are not in government agency and not in state enterprise but are in public organization or independent entities which are established by Organic Act which have the provision that officers and employees shall not be under the control of many labour laws including the law on labour relations. For example ; Act 1. Government Pension Fund Act, B.E. 2539 2. Act of Parliament, the Ombudsman Act, B.E. 2542 Matters of Law The affairs of the Government Pension Fund shall not subject to the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations, Employees Relations Act and the law on social security (Section 7) The affairs of the Ombudsman of Thailand shall not subject to the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers compensation. (Section 39)

3. Public Organization Act, B.E. The Director, officer and employee in public organization which is established by this law shall 2542 not subject to the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers compensation (section 38) The affairs of the Organisation shall not subject to 4. Fund Act the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations and State Enterprise Labour Relations Act The law on Social Security and the law on workers Health Promotion, B.E. 2544 compensation, anyhow, manager, officer and employee of the Organisation shall be entitled to benefits of not less than the benefits as prescribed by the law on labour protection, the law on social security and the law on workers compensation (Section 7) The affairs of the National Health Security Office, 5. National Security Act Thailand shall not subject to the law on labour B.E.2545 protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers Compensation, but the officer and employee of the Organisation shall be entitled to benefits of not less than the benefits as prescribed by the law on labour protection, the law on social security and the law on workers compensation (Section 24, paragraph 2) The affairs of National Health Commission Office 6. National Health Act, B.E. of Thailand shall not subject to the law on labour 2550 protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers Compensation, but officer and employee shall be entitled to benefits of not less than the benefits as prescribed by those laws (Section 30, last paragraph)

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7. Organic Act on the Election, B.E. 2550

8. Commission Act and the Promotion of the Insurance Act, B.E. 2550

9. Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act, B.E. 2551 (TPBS)

The affairs of the Office of the Election Commission of Thailand shall not subject to the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers Compensation (Section 30, paragraph 2) The affairs of the Organisation shall not subject to the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers Compensation, but the officer and employee of the Organisation shall be entitled to benefits of not less than the benefits as prescribed by the law on labour protection, the law on social security and law on workers Compensation (Section 19) The affairs of the Organisation shall not subject to the law on labour protection, the law on labour relations, the law on social security and the law on workers compensation, but the Director, officer and employee of the Organisation shall be entitled to benefits of not less than the benefits as prescribed by the law on labour protection, the law on social security and the law on workers compensation. (Section 10)

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Appendix State Enterprises that have the labour union May 2012 # State Enterprise Number of Number of unioni members affiliated with State Enterprises Workers Relation Confederation (SERC) 17,000 8,400 234 21,464 1,946 24 3,140 9,000 231 3955 8 531 1,928 11,589 / 2,700 2,880 53 52 46 3,663 177 2,532 167 14,900 / 10,972 1,750 7,919 Labour union affiliated with State Enterprise Workers Federation of Thailand

1 Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand 2 Metropolitan Electricity Authority 3 Provincial Electricity Authority 4 Metropolitan Waterworks Authority 5 Provincial Waterworks Authority 6 Bangkok Mass Transit Authority 7 The Transport Co.,Ltd 8 State Railway of Thailand 9 Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand 10 Expressway Authority of Thailand 11 Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited 12 Thai Airways International Public Co., Ltd. 13 Civil Aviation Training Center 14 Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd. 15 Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural CoOperatives 16 Government Housing Bank 17 Government Savings Bank 18 Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited

officer employee 22,868 689 8,148 27,873 4,001 6,352 15,531 3,639 11,494 576 4,136 4,134 25,897 235 2,840 14,032 2,748 12,122 18,226

/ / / /

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19 Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand 20 Islamic Bank of Thailand 21 Public Pawnshop Office 22 Port Authority of Thailand 23 Public Warehouse Organization 24 Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand 25 Fish Marketing Organization 26 The Government Pharmaceutical Organization 27 Marketing Organization for Farmers 28 Forest Industry Organization 29 Rubber Estate Organization 30 Office of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund 31 The Liquor Distillery Organization 32 TOT Public Company Limited 33 CAT Telecom Public Company Limited 34 MCOT Public Company Limited 35 Thailand Post Co., Ltd. 36 PTT Public Limited Company 37 Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand 38 Sports Authority of Thailand 39 Tourism Authority of Thailand 40 National Housing Authority 41 The Government Lottery Office 42 Thailand Tobacco Monopoly 43 Playing Card Factory

1,713 3,826 398 3,117 425 874 291 2,065 315 1,118 223 1,792 190 17,964 5,749 936 12,715 3,826 588 609 885 1,865 822 3,993 120

14

230 2,212 276 537 /

/ / / / / / / / / / -

142 217

576 53 354 125 242 4 639 999 484 5050 22 530 55

1,482 245 631 646 1,583 102 16,348 3,600 / 10,600 2,400 323 172 659 832

220 74 1

850 2,396 -

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44 Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research

616

75

347

Source: State Enterprises Workers Relation Confederation (SERC), State Enterprise Workers Federation of Thailand and Labour Relations Bureau, Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, Ministry of Labour. Notes: (1) The labour union of State Enterprise that are members of the State Enterprises Workers Relation Confederation (SERC) and the State Enterprise Workers Federation of Thailand are 1) the labour union of The Transport Co.,Ltd 2) the labour union of Government Housing Bank 3) the labour union of Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand 4) the labour union of Fish Marketing Organization 5) the labour union of TOT Public Company Limited 6) the labour union of MCOT Public Company Limited 7) the labour union of Thailand Post Co., Ltd. 8) the labour union of PTT Public Limited Company 9) the labour union of Tourism Authority of Thailand 10) the labour union of Office of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund (2) The labour union of State Enterprise that are members of the State Enterprise Workers Federation of Thailand but not in the State Enterprises Workers Relation Confederation (SERC) are 1) the labour union of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd. 2) the labour union of Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited 3) the labour union of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand 4) the labour union of Islamic Bank of Thailand (3) The labour union of State Enterprise that are not the members of the State Enterprises Workers Relation Confederation (SERC) and the State Enterprise Workers Federation of Thailand is the labour union of Playingcard Factory.

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The State Enterprises that do not have the labour union 1. Export-Import Bank of Thailand 2. Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation 3. Thailand Privileges Card Co.,Ltd. 4. Bangkok Commercial Asset Management Co.,Ltd. 5. Sukhumvit Asset Management Co.,Ltd. 6. Secondary Mortgage Corporation 7. District Cooling System and Power Plant Co.,Ltd. 8. The War Veterans Organization of Thailand under Royal Patronage of His majesty the King 9. Dhanarak Asset Development Co.,Ltd. 10. Marketing Organization 11. Police Printing Bureau 12. Thai Maritime Navigation Company Limited. 13. The Bangkok Dock Company (1957) Limited 14. The Zoological Park Organization under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King 15. The Botanical Garden Organization 16. Wastewater Management Authority 17. The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises Limited 18. National Science Museum 19. Financial Institutions Development Fund 20. EGAT International Co.,Ltd. 21. SRTET S.R.T Electrified Train Company Limited 22. PEA ENCOM International Company Limited

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Bibliography Kovit Burapathanin, Review about the Convention of International Labour Organization number 87 and 98, B.E. 2551 Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, Labour Relations Bureau, State Enterprise Labour Relations Act B.E. 2543, second edition, B.E. 2545 National Human Rights Commission, case study about violations of Labour Rights, third edition, B.E. 2549 Nanthawat Boramanan, Senior Research Scholar, New Standards of the Preparation of Public Service in Thailand,winner of TFT Award in Social Science in B.E. 2554, second edition, B.E. 2554 Bandit Thanachaisetthavut, the law on labour relations that inconsistent with the Convention number 87 and 98, documentation in seminar the Convention number 87 and 98 held by UNI-LTU,TLSC-FBFT and UNI-APR, 21 November 2009, Convenient Park Hotel, Soi Sukhumvit 62/3 Bangkok International Labour Organization, David TaJgman and Karen Curtis, manual about principles and practices of International Labour Organization (translated in Thai), B.E. 2547 Manit Jumpa, Explanation of Administrative Law, Chulalongkorn University Press, third edition, revised edition, B.E.2554

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