Around 2,000 striking
workers at General Motors (Thailand) Co.’s Rayong factory are picketing
outside the plant, saying the automaker added a Saturday shift without
paying overtime. Company officials have agreed to meet, but are denying
wild claims the company is losing 10 billion baht a day during the
strike.
Patcharapol Panrak
Around 2,000 striking workers at General Motors (Thailand) Co.’s Rayong
factory are petitioning the U.S. embassy and Prime Minister’s Office to
come to their aide saying the automaker added a Saturday shift without
paying overtime.
Forty percent of the 5,000 assembly-line workers at the Chevrolet plant
walked off the job Feb. 8 in protest over the extra working day. While
3,000 workers remain on the job, production has tumbled from 600 cars
per day to just 100.
Some of the striking workers are airing
their grievances under the cover of shade, whilst the others are
protesting in front of the factory.
Workers Union of GM Pluakdaeng-chapter President
Suriya Photchailert said workers are prepared to remain on the picket
line at least another three months after 30 labor unions around the
country pledged cash and food to support the strikers.
Suriya said negotiations with GM have been unsuccessful, even after the
union agreed to add a third shift on weekdays, which he argued would
offer the company the same production boost without requiring workers to
give up their Saturdays.
Union representatives said employees valued their weekends, using the
time to spend with family or attend school to further their
qualifications in hopes of obtaining better positions at the factory.
Requiring them to work Saturday at normal pay wasn’t worth the effort,
they said.
GM (Thailand) spokesman Vigo Vargis said company officials offered to
meet with the union March 14. But he denied wild union claims that GM is
losing 10 billion baht a day, saying the company’s has enough vehicles
in inventory to fulfill its sales channels. During a 10-day strike that
halted all production at the Chevy plant in October 2009, General Motors
estimated it lost about 200 million baht per day.
Vargis also refuted union picket-line claims that quality has suffered,
saying there have been no reports about purported fires or engine
problems.
Unable to gain traction with the company, striking unionists traveled to
Bangkok beginning March 6, presenting petitions to the Prime Minister’s
Office, U.S. Embassy and the Labor Ministry, asking them to uphold a
contract they claim prevents GM from adding a Saturday shift at regular
pay.
