Last November 13, an agreement was reached between Hoya Glass Disk (Thailand) and the Electronics and Electrical Appliances Relation Labour Union (EEALU) which brought a months-long conflict between the two parties to an end. 35 dismissed workers cum union members were reinstated. Barely two months later, EEALU is faulting Hoya Glass Disk for major breaches of the agreement.
According to EEALU the company is to be faulted for
the following breaches of the November 13 agreement:
Clause no. 5 of the agreement states that “It is mutually understood
that with the reinstatement in place, the company shall preserve the previous
employment conditions for the reinstated workers. Though change of position is
warranted for, the previous employment conditions shall remain”.
Of the 35 reinstated workers, however, 33 have had to
accept changes in the employment conditions including a change of their working
days and holidays. As a result of the change in the employment conditions, the
workers lose the following benefits:
–
night
shift allowance
–
income
out of over-time
–
income
out of working during holidays
–
over-time
food allowance
–
gas
allowance for work during holidays.
In sum, after their reinstatement, the workers see
their income reduced by half, calculates the EEALU.
Clauses no. 6 and 8 of
the agreement state respectively that “All 44 workers, after being
reinstated, pledge to abide by regulations of the company, and the company
shall make efforts to enhance good relations with the workers”, and “The
company, workers and the Union agree to cooperate to make possible good labour
relations and any interference that may give rise to conflicts shall be avoided.”
Since their reinstatement, however, workers are separated from other workers and
are assigned work that is not directly related to the production lines:
–
Some
workers are assigned to sit idly and given no specific jobs. They are asked to
sit in a job interview room equipped with CCTV and recording microphones.
–
Some
workers are assigned with jobs that do not respond to their professional
capacities such as catching stray cats on the factory premises, dredging
canteen sewages, collecting and laundering gloves, cleaning store rooms, etc.
Moreover, pressure has been
applied by the company on the workers in various manners:
–
Workers
are ordered to sit in places where they find themselves surrounded by
supervisors and administrative officers who harbouring negative attitude toward
them.
–
Workers,
in particular the core labour union members are summoned to meet with the Hoya
personnel manager who has repeatedly offered money would the workers agree to
resign.
–
Some
workers are required to report to the division supervisors every morning before
work. Such a requirement is not applicable to other workers in the same
divisions.
–
Some
workers are assigned unfamiliar jobs – as a result they have to begin to learn
the skills anew.
–
The
management has ordered other workers to keep a vigil on the 35 reinstated
workers during their working hours.
EEALU has reported these breaches of the agreement to the
company’s management, addressing the CEO, but has not yet received satisfactory
responses.
