Academics say Thailand has not been adequately protecting workers’ rights both Thai and foreign and though there is some improvement, existing laws and regulations still limit their rights.
Their comments came after the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced last week that President Donald Trump was suspending trade preferences worth $1.3 billion in trade preferences for Thailand under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) based on its failure to adequately provide internationally recognised worker rights.
The USTR said that despite six years of engagement, Thailand has yet to take steps to provide internationally recognised worker rights in a number of important areas identified in a 2015 petition from the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations, such as providing protections for freedom of association and collective bargaining. GSP eligibility will be revoked effective six months from today for approximately one-third of Thailand’s GSP trade, which totalled $4.4 billion in 2018.
Key issues are freedom to organise and to bargain with employers, said Assoc Prof Lae Dilokvidhyarat, economic lecturer at Chulalongkorn University.
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