Informal workers vow lawsuit over pension fund

Informal workers vow lawsuit over pension fund

Informal labourers have vowed to sue Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong if he fails to set up a pension fund for them by May 1.

The May Day deadline has been set by a network of informal workers in Bangkok.

The group is upset by a lack of state action to enforce the National Savings Fund Act to set up the fund, despite the law being passed in 2011.

Thailand has more than 30 million non-formal workers who are not officially hired by companies and so have limited access to labour protection and welfare.

The fund would serve as a savings pool for workers to ensure their financial security after retirement, supporters say.

Network representative Anek Chirachitathon said he suspects the Pheu Thai-led government is dragging its feet as the policy was not its brainchild.

"If this is the case, you can call it by your own name. We don't care," Mr Anek told a recent seminar.

"We just want the fund to be set up and opened for subscriptions."

Mr Anek's network plans to lodge a petition with the Administrative Court if its request falls upon deaf ears.

The Finance Ministry earlier expressed concern the fund, which would rely on contributions from subscribers and the government, may overlap with the Social Security Act (SSA).

Its Section 40 deals with pensions for workers in the non-formal sector.

Mr Kittiratt recently suggested making the proposed fund a policy under Section 40 of the SSA. His proposal will be forwarded to the cabinet, Chanachai Prayunsin, chief of the Bureau of Savings and Investment Policy, said.

However, the non-formal workers' network disagrees with the move. "We don't want the national savings fund to come under the SSA. Officials oversee it and politicians could interfere with it," Mr Anek said.

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