Today’s Labour Day celebrations could have been even merrier as the government made a solemn promise over two weeks ago to raise the universal minimum daily wage to 400 baht across the nation.
However, spirits were dampened after Labour Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn abruptly postponed the schedule last Friday.
The government, as it turns out, still has to await the outcome of the tripartite committee meeting on May 14.
Labour Minister Pipat recently admitted that the hike would be implemented on a gradual basis to avoid harshly impacting the economy.
Such hiccoughs have become a pattern when it comes to implementing labour policies under the Srettha Thavisin government.
In fact, this has been characterised so far by the elected parties struggling to realise their pledge to raise the daily minimum wage. In last year’s election campaign, the ruling Pheu Thai Party vowed to raise this to 600 baht.
Hiking the daily wage is easier said than done.
In Thailand, the decision to set the amount is made by a tripartite committee comprising representatives of employers, employees and officials, with the use of an approved calculation formula.
Therefore, the government, especially Pheu Thai and PM Srettha who are used to fast and flexible business operations, found itself frustrated after the committee chose not to accommodate its wage hike promise.
The Srettha government spent seven months cajoling and hectoring the tripartite committee to raise wages, with limited success.
To be fair, though, the panel did approve a gradual wage hike. For example, on April 13, the minimum daily wage in 10 tourist areas was raised to 400 baht.
This, of course, prompted workers in other fields to lament the lack of an equal playing field, while many budget or lower-cost hotels complained this would eat into their margins and hurt their business.
Labour experts have also warned the government that it must let the market and the tripartite mechanism determine the true or fair labour costs.
Indeed, there are many things the government and labour ministry should have done better to improve workers’ lives.
One labour problem that policy makers and governments often ignore is taking care of the rights of workers who have been laid off or dismissed unfairly. This means the disgruntled former workers must resort to protests or court cases.
The government, especially the labour minister, must order labour officials to provide a sound legal service to ensure laid-off workers are fairly treated and taken good care of.
Another ignored labour issue is pollution in workplaces such as factories. A glaring example is workers at recycling factories in Samut Prakan and Bangkok, who have been exposed to toxic cadmium tailings.
Such hazardous work conditions would not exist if the government had imposed a mechanism to audit workers’ health and welfare in risky workplaces. But that is not the case in Thailand. Whenever there is a crisis, the responsible ministries and administrations prefer to pass the buck.
The economic conditions in Thailand may not favour a quick and substantial wage rise. But that does not mean the government can fail to improve workers’ lives. The elected political parties must strive to boost the welfare of workers first and foremost.