Thailand's workers demand daily wage hike to Bt300 as scheduled

BANGKOK, November 5 (TNA) - Representatives of workers have asked the Ministry of Labour to raise Thailand's daily minimum wage to 300 baht as scheduled; while local employers have proposed a delay for a few years. Manas Kosol, Chair of the Confederation of Thai Labour, submitted the written request to Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap today, saying that the confederation supports the Thai government’s plan to raise the country's daily minimum wage to 300 baht in the rest 70 provinces from January 1, 2013. Manas assessed that the wage hike, to 300 baht a day equally nationwide, should not seriously affect local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), thanks to the Thai government's promotional privileges for the local business operators. Manas, however, threatened to stage a big rally if the government failed to raise the daily minimum wage as scheduled. The labour minister then affirmed the Thai government's planned wage hike, stressing that he is ready to listen to affected SMEs and to work out assistance for them. Tanit Sorat, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FIT), also met the labour minister, proposing, however, that the minimum wage rise in the remaining Thai provinces be postponed by 2-3 years, claiming that the wage hike would, otherwise, raise the costs of local small factories by additional 25-28 per cent, while the manufacturers have already faced losses about 6-7 million baht monthly, and that a cut in the corporate income tax has not helped the labour-intensive SMEs. According to the FTI vice chair, if the Thai government insisted on the wage increase, the administration should help boost the liquidity of local SMEs, subsidize their wage costs and cut their financial contribution to the Social Security Fund (SSF). (TNA)