On May Day, labour activists across Thailand assembled to call for a better welfare state and fair working conditions.
International Workers’ Day this year — 1 May 2017 or ‘May Day’ — saw the Rangsit Labour Union travelled to Pathumtani to deliver a petition to the provincial governor. The petition stakes eight demands:
- A welfare state
- Fair wages
- That the government to sign the International Labour Organisation Conventions 87 (The Freedom of Associaation and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention) and 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention)
- Safe working conditions
- Compulsory education until a undergraduate level
- A democratic system, with elections in 2017
- Halt to rising electricity process
- That the governor investigate the water supply in Rangsit
The petition notes that the union has delivered petitions on May Day to the govenor in previous years calling for a welfare state, the acceptance of international labour unions and freedoms of association and assembly.
“But we have never received a response of any kind,” the petition claims, “So on this day, which is an important day in labour history, the Rangsit labour Union is informing the governor of these issues to ensure he understands.”
The petition was received by Monsit Prisantanawat, the deputy governor.
The same day, more than 160 members of the Northern Labour Network travelled to the town hall in Chiang Mai to deliver a declaration based on brainstorming with the region’s workers. Migrant workers, informal workers, factory workers and service workers were invited to contribute to the declaration.
