Migrants Movement. Introduction to Trade Unions for Migant Workers. February 24th-25th 2011

Transcription

1 Migrants Moveent February 24th-25th 2011 Introduction to Trade Unions for Migant Workers MAP Foundation P.O. Box 7. Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Tel/Fax: E-ail: Website: Supported By

2 Migrants Moveent Consultation Introduction to Trade Unions for Migant Workers Introduction The Migrant Moveents Consultation was a gathering of igrant workers fro Bura now working in different places in Thailand that took place in late February 2011 in Chiang Mai organised by MAP Foundation. At the Consultation, igrant workers et with representatives of the labour oveents of Cabodia, India, Malaysia, and Thailand to share experiences of building collective oveents to defend workers interests against injustice and exploitation. Over the course of two days igrant workers, representing workers associations and counity based organisations across the country, and the trade unionists, shared inforation on different aspects of union organising ranging fro the background of the labour oveent in Thailand and strategies for collective bargaining, to the role of woen and politics in trade unionis. The current political situation in Bura has consistently prevented the developent of an independent labour oveent for over half a century. The purpose of the Migrant Moveents Consultation was to develop greater understanding between trade unions and igrant workers, to provide soe inforation and skills for igrant workers to negotiate their rights with eployers and stand up for the interests of their co-workers. In the future, when Bura is free, igrant workers who have developed an understanding of labour organising in Thailand, can return hoe and help build a new independent labour oveent, building solidarity aong all the workers of Bura. 1

3 Speackers & Participants Speakers: Participants: Balasubraania Alagu: Vice President, Malaysian Trades Union Congress, Malaysia Jitra Cotshadet: Union Organiser, Try Ar Workers Cooperative, Thailand Sawit Kaewan: Secretary General, State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation, Thailand Shashikala N. Murthy: Union Organiser, Indian National Trade Union Congress, India Srey Kiheng: Secretary General, Free Trade Union, Cabodia Wilaiwan Sae- Tia: President, Thai Labour Solidarity Coittee, Thailand BAT (Burese Association in Thailand) Bangkok Doestic Workers Exchange, Chiang Mai Workers Centre, DPNS, Mae Sot Labour Exchange, Phang Nga, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Sot, Mahachai Migrant Workers Federation, Chiang Mai Foundation for Education and Developent, Phang Nga MAP Foundation, HRDF (Huan Rights and Developent Foundation) Workers Solidarity Association, Chiang Mai Woen Exchange, Chiang Mai 2

4 Unions: A History Exploitation of igrants is global; it is not just igrants but Thai workers too face exploitation. Workers are united in the struggle against exploitation. Sawit Kaewan A trade union (English usage) or labour union (Aerican usage) is an organisation of workers that have joined together to achieve coon goals such as better working conditions. Trade unions are ebership based organisations. Workers pay a onthly fee (due) to the union to becoe a eber and aintain ebership. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the eployer on behalf of union ebers and negotiates issues raised by the workers with eployers or anageent. This ay include the negotiation of wages, hours, conditions, work rules, coplaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and prootion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. Trade Unions eerged in Europe over 200 years ago and have spread across the world. Today there are trade unions in countries on every continent and any of these are associated with international federations of trade unions. Although we are fro different countries, as workers we are the sae and we share the sae struggle and all face exploitation fro the governent and eployers. Sawit Kaewan May 1st (May Day) is celebrated as International Workers Day throughout the world and is a national holiday in ore than 80 countries. May Day is a celebration of worker s rights and began with calls for an 8 hour day that becae the coon ai of any trade unions in the 1800s. Woen were leaders in these oveents, and the strikes they organised of textile factory workers and other woen workers in 1908, 1911 and 1917 in the US, Europe and Russia led to the founding of International Woen s Day. Many of the workers, throughout history, involved in arching on May Day and International Woen s Day have been igrant workers and they were involved in the socialist oveents that helped build trade unionis and the labour oveent. 3

5 Tieline: Soe Key Moents in the History of Labour Rights Soe Exaples of Woen s Role in the Labour Moveent May 1886 The Hayarket Massacre A deonstration for the 8 hour day in Chicago, USA, led to a riot after a bob was thrown and the police opened fire on deonstrators. The leaders of the deonstration were arrested and soe were sentenced to death. May Day begins as a coeoration of this event and becae International Workers Day 1919 International Labour Organisation (ILO) founded, a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues and sets the international labour standard The Freedo of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention 1948, first of the two priary labour conventions of the ILO, cae into force in July 1950, guaranteeing the right to for trade unions The Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention 1949, second of the two priary labour conventions of the ILO, cae into force on July , guaranteeing the right of trade unions to negotiate with eployers on behalf of ebers a fire in the Triangle garent factory killed 140 woen workers working in sweatshop conditions 1912 The Lawrence Textile Strike in Aerica, 25,000 textile ill workers strike with woen leaders lasts 10 weeks; ostly ade up of igrant workers they set up a coittee with 2 representatives fro each nationality Bread, Land & Peace strikes in Russia, led by woen workers lasted 4 days; this was part of the oveent which led to the Russian Revolution, following the revolution the new governent granted woen the right to vote Woen in the Philippines protests against the Marcos dictatorship 2003 Woen across the world protest against U.S. led war in Iraq in solidarity with Iraqi sisters 2006 The South African governent launched a capaign to honor the 1956 woen s arch in Pretoria against the repressive pass laws under the apartheid syste. The ANC and COSATU have for years honored woen participants in the liberation oveent International Trade Union Confederation is founded. The world s largest trade union federation representing 175 illion workers through 311 affiliated organisations in 155 countries. 4

6 The types and roles of Trade Unions Types of Trade Unions: There are any different types of trade unions: Industrial Unions: workers fro the sae industry but working in any different workplaces can join an industrial union. It represents workers of a particular industry and only address issues concerning that industry. For exaple, a Textile and Garent Factory Union ay have ebers who work in textile factories in Mae Sot, in Bangkok and in Had Yai. In-House Unions: workers fro the sae work place for their own union. So each workplace will have a separate union. Soe in-house unions fored and doinated by the eployer and therefore focus on issues benefiting the eployer rather than the workers General Union: represents workers in any different industries and workers of different skills, ay represent all workers in a workplace or just a few and will focus on issues covering all workers. Federations or Congress of Unions: an affiliation of trade unions on a national or international level. Federations of unions often focus on issues effecting workers at a national and international level rather than individual cases. The International Trade Union Congress covers unions representing 175illion workers in 155 countries. 5

7 Unions Mebership Globally, total union ebership is falling. Mebership of public sector unions has grown but ebership of private sector has fallen. In the UK, 15% of the private workforce is unionized and 57% of the public sector is unionized, in total 27% of the total workforce is unionized. In Thailand, by contrast, only 3% of the workforce is unionized. Priary functions of trade unions: Provision of benefits to ebers: In countries where trade unions have been established for any years and have a large paying ebership, the unions are able to aintain substantial funds. The trade union ust use these funds for the benefit of their ebers. Trade unions often provide a range of benefits to protect ebers against uneployent, ill health, old age and funeral expenses. In any countries, these functions have been taken on by the state; however, the provision of professional training, legal advice and representation for ebers is still an iportant benefit of trade union ebership. Unions can also provide inforation to workers about job availability. Collective bargaining: Where trade unions are able to operate openly and are recognised by eployers, they ay negotiate with eployers on behalf of ebers over issues such as wages, hours and working conditions. Industrial action: Trade unions ay enforce different types of industrial action to draw attention to their coplaints and pressure the eployer or the governent to iprove their situation, i.e. Strikes: calling on all workers to stop working. Strikes are only called after the unions have tried to negotiate with the eployers and after negotiations have failed. Strikes ay be called in advance for a liited period. The unions ay call for a one day national strike, bringing the country to a standstill for one day. Or strikes ay continue until the workers deands are et. During a strike the trade union ay try and stop any other workers entering the workplace to prevent any work fro continuing. Political activity: Trade unions ay proote legislation favourable to the interests of their ebers or workers as a whole. To this end they ay pursue capaigns, undertake lobbying, or financially support individual candidates or parties for public office. We need to look at both the short ter and the long ter goals of organising. Iproving conditions is a ain objective in the short ter but in the long ter it is about iproving our societies. As igrants and workers we tend to focus on the short 2

8 ter goals but a better society is iportant. All societies should be just societies. Jittra Cotshadet The right to join a trade union is entioned in article 23, subsection 4 of the Universal Declaration of Huan Rights. In Thailand, according to the Labour Relation Act B.E Chapter 7 Section 101, to be a eber of the Executive Coittee of a trade union, you ust be a Thai national. This eans that although igrant workers can join an existing Thai union, they cannot be in leadership role nor can they for their own trade unions. The international law that allows the right for workers to organise and for unions is a fundaental huan right, despite this Thai law does not honour this right Sawit Kaewan In Thailand, it would be possible but difficult for igrants to join an existing union. One of these unions, the State Enterprise Relations Confederation (SERC) was represented at the Migrant Moveents Consultation by its leader, Sawit Kaewan, but there are others such as the industrial unions the Confederation of Electrical Appliances, Autoobile and Metal Workers (TEAM) or the factory based Triuph International Thailand Labour Union (TITLU) representing the workers at Triuph garent factory. Many of these trade unions have joined forces in a coalition group called the Thai Labour Solidarity Coittee (TLSC), represented at the Migrant Moveents Consultation by its President Wilaiwan Sae- Tia. There are several other federations of unions in Thailand including Thai trade Union Congress and the National Congress of Thai Labour. 3

9 Fro Malaysia, Balasubraania Alagu spoke at the Consultation representing the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC). This is a federation of trade unions across Malaysia representing over 500,000 workers in that country. As a federation it works with affiliated trade unions in supporting labour disputes and has different departents that focus on different areas of workers issues. The MTUC Industrial Relations Dept takes up the legal cases of igrants over issues such as non-payent of wages, working conditions, etc. The MTUC is currently pressuring the governent for the introduction of a iniu wage law for igrants and local workers. Balasubraania Alagu The MTUC is a eber of the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) that includes Trade Union Congress organisations fro around the world including Britain, Aerica and Thailand. The ITUC has annual strategy eeting to develop international policies and is currently working on policies to strengthen doestic worker s rights. Balasubraania Alagu Many trade unions offer other benefits to workers who join the, in countries such as Aerica and Britain soe of the bigger trade unions offer extra benefits to ebers not related to work place solidarity such as insurance policies, help with housing and discounts on travel as well as ore practical things like free legal advice, educational classes and financial assistance for ebers in ties of need. At the Migrant Moveents Consultation, Shashikala Murthy, representing the Indian National Trade Union Congress, gave us exaples of how the trade unions offer extra support to ebers in India, beyond joining together to negotiate for better wages and conditions. 4

10 Trade unions run group schees that give works skills that can also be of use to eployers. For exaple woen have their own icrofinance/self help group prograes. The group schees are aied at creating unity aong workers. Trade unions also try to secure the social welfare of the eployees and provide leadership Shashikala went on to explain the strong role woen play in trade unions in India. Woen do have leadership roles in unions... 33% of representatives in parliaent are woen, any of who coe fro a union background. The president of India is a woan. So woen have leadership roles in the country overall. We bring up these points of woen in leadership roles in the woen s forus of unions to ake woen strong and confident...the ai is that woen s iproveent will benefit the faily and society as a whole. Shashikala N. Murthy However the situation for igrants joining trade unions in Thailand is very different fro other countries and fro Thai nationals. Wilaiwan Sea-Tia, fro the Thai Labour Solidarity Coittee (TLSC) spoke at the Consultation of the probles faced by igrant workers who have great concerns over legal docuents that allow the to work. An iportant issue is the fact that eployers hold on to the docuents of igrant workers so that the igrant worker cannot ove freely and are often harassed by the police for bribes when they have no papers... The TLSC is concerned about igrant workers and has a capaign to proote unions aong igrant workers, but only docuented igrants, because we fear that if undocuented igrants join a union and the eployers find out they will be picked on and threatened with telling the authorities that they are undocuented. Wilaiwan Sea-Tia As entioned before, igrant workers can legally join a union but they are not allowed be part of the leadership, they cannot sit on an executive coittee. There are also any other issues that stop igrants joining unions, like fear of legal status entioned above, creating a desire to reain anonyous. Migrants also have difficulty travelling or getting tie off work so it is difficult to attend trade union eetings and in addition, they ay not speak Thai and so cannot participate actively. Added to this is the prejudice of Thai workers that gets fostered by the edia. In Thailand the eployers are using igrants to scare Thai workers, using igrants as scapegoats to create a culture of fear aong Thai workers. If the Thai unions go along with this it will only serve to divide workers and will divide the labour oveent. Jittra Cotshadet But, our speakers at the Migrant Moveents Consultation were aware of the issues faced by igrant workers and in soe cases even had soe suggestions to help igrant workers cobat these issues: 5

11 There are still great concerns faced by igrant workers that Thai trade unions are aware of. The issue of Nationality Verification and Teporary Passports, access to social security and issues of huan trafficking are all areas of great concern to Thai trade unions and we are aware that igrants still face these probles. Sawit Kaewan The TLSC and other Thai unions have been involved in negotiating with eployers to stop the abusing the igrant workers. Unions also support igrants in eploying legal services for igrants e.g. when a pregnant woan is sacked or when igrant workers passports are confiscated we eploy lawyers to get pregnant woen back to work and negotiate with the eployers to get passports back. Wilaiwan Sae-Tia The ore igrants join together, the ore welcoe they will be to join a union, but in reality negotiating for both igrants and Thai workers is difficult as they do face soe different issues. The best solution is for igrant workers to for their own groups to affiliate with a union, as this will give the greater power as a collective. The ore power these igrant groups have the ore welcoe they will be in Thai unions. Jittra Cotshadet Recently the State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation (SERC) lobbied the Thai governent to ake ajor changes in the Thai labour laws, calling for the to be applied to all workers, benefiting igrant as well as Thai workers. Sawit Kaewan listed soe of these recoendations: 1. Increase salaries to an international standard - Currently the average Thai salaries only feed one person; we call for a raise to feed three people which is the international standard. 2. Iproved social conditions for workers in urban areas, e.g. housing, health, etc. 3. Strengthen labour laws: a. Labour laws divided between governent workers and private sector workers, so try to cobine laws to unify standards. b. Worker safety laws- Increase standards for safety conditions and establish pun ishents for eployees who violate these standards. 4. Pressure eployers to contribute to funds for workers when there are eergencies like floods, earthquakes or other disruptions in the work. 6

12 Organizing Ourselves AND Joining a Union We need to work together with other networks and civil societies because we cannot do this alone Jitra Cotshadet At the Migrant Moveents Consultation we heard any speakers explain the iportance of joining a union and organizing ourselves. Many speakers ade the point that the eployers are often working closely with the governent and the state to underine the solidarity of the workers and for this reason we learned about the iportance of working together to stand up for our rights. First we ust understand the power of the owners; they have the law, the police and the ary on their side. They can choose to close a factory for a day or even close it down copletely and ove it soewhere else, and they can use their oney to buy the labour leaders and divide the workers, breaking workers solidarity Jittra Cotshadet The solution that any of the speakers see is in a future of solidarity between Thai workers and igrant workers. We heard any ties fro the speakers the need for igrants and Thai workers to join together and by doing so build the power in the labour oveent. At a national level igrants need to for their own groups or associations and then apply to join the trade union as a group. Migrants don t need to worry about registering your groups or the nae of your group anywhere. The ain issue is to be strong and work together. The unions won t care if your group is official or unofficial. Thai unions can protect igrants and can see igrants standing up for theselves, if you work together and work with the labour oveent you can raise your voice and be supported. Sawit Kaewan Many of the participants at the Migrants Moveent Consultation eeting are in workers associations and Counity Base Organizations. Soe of the igrants that participated in the event are part of the Workers Solidarity Association (WSA). We spoke to a WSA activist after the Migrant Moveents Consultation to find out what she learned fro the event. Despite the assurances fro the trade unionist she told us of her fears of joining a trade union at this tie. At the consultation I learned ore about the trade unions and the role that trade unions can play. But in reality, it is too early for the WSA to join with a Thai trade union, as even the 7

13 leaders of Thai Trade Unions at the Consultation accepted that the igrant workers are welcoed by soe but that there are any Thai workers that are not accepting of igrant workers yet. For now we need to build ore understanding between igrant workers and Thai workers. For exaple, we need to organize soe activities, such as sport days, culture exchange and others things with the Thai workers at the grassroots level. On the other hand, we ourselves are also not ready to join with the Thai Trade Unions. Not all igrant workers have their own groups or associations. Only a few workers start thinking to set up their own association, there needs to be ore of us. And under the labour law, even when we do set up these associations we cannot call ourselves a trade union. So in y opinion we need to start to build our oveent first, we need to start with developing our associations. WSA Activist The Workers Solidarity Association was fored in July 2007 with only 22 workers joining together in solidarity. The idea for the WSA was the result of a labour exchange eeting, organized by the MAP Foundation, and involving igrant workers coing together to share experiences and learn fro each other. Fro this eeting the idea of joining together to for an association eerged. Within in one year the WSA grew to over 100 ebers. Each eber pays a sall subscription which is used to organise WSA activities and provide soe welfare benefits to ebers. Working together with the igrant counity, the WSA has organised visits to construction sites to eet other igrant workers and tell the of the association, labour exchange eetings at various counity centres and workplaces so igrant workers can continue to share experiences, learn fro each other and build friendships. Special events have been 8

14 organised to involve igrant workers and the wider counity including traditional cultural events such as dancing. Most iportantly, the WSA, by joining together in solidarity and working together with the MAP Foundation, is able to support workers whose eployers withhold their salaries and take those eployers to the labour court. In doing so they are standing up for their rights and fighting exploitation. Since the WSA was fored in 2007 it has reached out to ore and ore igrant workers and has grown in size and strength. Today the WSA is over 300 ebers strong and continues to grow every day. Working together with the Map Foundation, and in solidarity with other igrant workers groups the WSA is helping to build a new igrant labour oveent that can stand up against exploitation and fight for the rights of everyone. The trade unionist at the Consultation helped develop an understanding of how we can do this, and do it well. And they want to support us in raising our voice as one, standing up together for the benefit of all. I want you to realize that no one knows your probles better than you, so it is iportant you raise your voice on the issues that atter to you. And to ake your voice strong you need support fro others, such as trade unions and NGOs. Sawit Kaewan 9

15 Strategies of Collective Bargaining Collective bargaining is negotiating on key issues for the rights of workers Jittra Cotshadet A very iportant aspect of trade unions is the issue of collective bargaining, negotiating with the eployers and the governent over the hours, wages and conditions that we work under. The ost iportant thing to eployers is aking oney. The ore oney they ake the richer they becoe and the ore power they have. The governent, in turn, wants the eployers to ake a lot of oney so that they can increase taxes which ake the governent richer and they can spend ore oney on developing the country, not always to the benefit of the poor. The worker is the tool that akes that oney. Without workers factories cannot function, achines cannot work and things cannot be produced. Without the worker oney cannot be ade. This is where the strength of the workers united lies. For the work that the workers do they need to be paid so that they can feed, clothe, and house theselves and their failies and prosper in their lives. This is where the conflict between the workers and the eployers coes fro. For the eployers to ake the ost aount of oney they ust spend the least on the workers and get fro the the ost aount of work. This eans long hours, low wages and poor conditions. For the worker this work life is hard and unjust and, as we have seen, workers throughout history have joined together and deanded better fro the eployers. Workers do this through collective bargaining. Jittra Cotshadet fro the Try Ar Workers Cooperative and Srey Kiheng fro the Free Trade Union (FTU) in Cabodia, explained to us the ways and eans to achieve our goals when bargaining with eployers for better hours, wages and conditions. What the investors and eployers want conflicts with what the workers want. As workers we have to understand that conflict. By understanding it we can negotiate better..in collective bargaining, we have to be realistic about our deands and take in to consideration the feelings of the people we are bargaining for Jittra Cotshadet The process of collective bargaining is not just soething that trade unions are involved in but is soething that igrant workers can do through their groups and associations. For this reason our speakers explained clearly the iportant aspects of preparing for, and undertaking, collective bargaining with eployers. For collective bargaining we have to understand what the probles are so we can ake a plan to help workers and then we can find a solution. We try to collect inforation to go to eployers to negotiate with the, we send representatives to speak to the Srey Kiheng 10

16 Jitra Cotshadet: When negotiating we need to be clear in our goals and consult with others for collective solutions and have confidence in each other. When preparing you should ake a list of issues that are to be negotiated and have an idea of the inial outcoe they want to see beforehand. It is iportant to have a backup proposal to ake sure you can keep the pressure on the eployers during negotiations When negotiating we need a tea rather than one person and in that tea each person should have a role researching, note-taking, speaking etc. The tea needs to be able to ake decisions but they always have to check back with the workers to ake sure they are sticking to what the workers want Labour leaders need to be able to counicate well at all levels and ust be people of knowledge about law and politics. They ust be people who are not afraid to speak out. A labour leader needs to be independent and not have any conflicts of interest top cloud their judgent. They ust not have any weak points or hidden skeletons that the eployers can exploit and use against the workers. So the speakers are saying that when preparing to negotiate it is iportant to select the right people fro the workers group to take the lead in negotiations, but it is also iportant that those leaders are directly accountable to the group as a whole. 11

17 The speakers provided us with a checklist to follow when undertaking collective bargaining: 1. Speak to the workers to understand the probles and for a plan of action 2. Gather relevant docuents: 2a) gather foral contracts and agreeents between eployees and eployers 2b) gather relevant docuents for negotiation (labour law docuents, copy of constitution, etc) 3. Set clear, realistic goals with highest ais, iniu outcoes and backup proposals 4. Send the representative of workers to negotiate with owners, if owners won t negotiate: 4a) ask intervention fro the Ministry of Labuor to apply pressure 4b) ask for support fro the buyers fro different countries to apply the pressure on the eployer, since factory will respond to its custoers 5) Call workers out on strike if negotiations fail and protest outside workplace Reeber; when choosing the issues you want to negotiate on decide a iniu aount that you want to get fro eployers and keep backup proposals in reserve in case you don t get an agreeent on the initial proposals. But it is also iportant to have a prie goal in ind. As stated earlier by Jittra, iproving conditions is a ain objective in the short ter but in the long ter it is about iproving our societies The last resort for workers, if the eployers refuse to coe to any agreeent, is the strike. The Laurence Strike of 1912 in Aerica, with woen workers leading 25,000 strikers, cae to be known as The Bread and Roses Strike because while the strikers were calling for better hours, wages and conditions, they also realised that these three things, though iportant, are not all that people need to have a decent huan life, there is ore to life than that. So the strikers called not just for better conditions but a better society as well and they held up signs that read Bread Yes! And Roses Too! 12

18 Case Study Cabodia: Trade Union, eployers and governent Srey Kiheng of the Free Trade Union (FTU), describes a Cabodian experience of collective bargaining, involving workers and their trade union on the one side and the eployers and the governent on the other. The FTU entered into negotiations with the eployers of garent factories, the ongoing debate between the FTU and the eployers led to further involveent with the governent and is an exaple of how iportant solidarity is in the labour oveent. We negotiated with the eployers at garent factories in Cabodia. First we subitted our suggestions to the owners and when a solution was not found and we received no response we went to the Ministry of Labour in Cabodia. Then we contact the buyers of the garents, the corporations, and explain that the factory owners are exploiting the workers. Following this, if there is a failure to reach an agreeent between the eployers and the workers we call on governent to be interediaries/ witnesses. But, as we will see, calling on the governent to intervene does not always produce a good result. In any cases the governent will side with eployers against the workers and help to break the solidarity of the workers. This is when we see in-house trade unions coe into action. My trade union has had soe difficulties when proposing things to the governent; our suggestions were only partly responded to in the short ter but not in relation to long ter policies. For exaple when we negotiate with the eployer and the governent over the issues of the garent workers, y trade union proposed that the governent force the eployers to increase the worker s salaries. We waited a long tie for a response. Eventually we set a deadline for the to respond, deciding that if they did not respond by a certain date we would call on workers to strike! 13

19 In Cabodia we have three types of union, the pro-governent, the pro-eployer and the independent trade union, and the pro-governent and pro-eployer discriinate against the independent ones such as y trade union. Independent trade unions are solely working for the workers and the other two types of union do not agree with our worker focus. We invited other trade unions to join us in our ultiatu, but the trade unions that are pro-eployer and pro-governent (i.e. in-house unions) refused. The governent and the eployers had urgent eetings on the issue but didn t invite the workers trade unions to attend. The result of these private eetings was that the governent did offer to increase salaries, but it wasn t an increase in real ters as the aount didn t correspond with the rising cost of living. We called on the governent to aend this by giving the workers a bonus salary. To date, there have been only three actors in debate over the issue of workers salaries, the governent, the eployers and thirdly, the pro-governent unions, all eeting to discuss bonus salaries that we had called for, but the FTU has been excluded Srey Kiheng, Secretary General of the Free Trade Union, Cabodia During the two days, the participants in the eeting, took part in activities to 14

20 Organizing: Obstacles and Opportunities deterine what obstacles they face when they try to organize and what opportunities exist that they can take advantage of for organizing. Here is the list that the participants agreed on: Obstacles to Organising: Iigration law: Migrants are very vulnerable to arrest and deportation. If they start to organise, the eployers will call in iigration and they will be deported. National Security: governent and soeties local population are afraid that organised foreign workers will pose a threat to national security. Eployers: eployers usually iediately disiss workers who try to organise and often discriinate against workers who for or join unions Lack of knowledge about laws and rights: inforation about the laws and our rights does not reach all igrant workers so it is difficult to get solidarity Discriination in enforceent of laws: the rights we do have under the law are ignored by the eployers and the authorities neglect to enforce the Lack of unity between groups: without solidarity between igrant workers we can t organise effectively Politics: politicians ake decisions based on popularity aong supporters but igrants have no vote so politicians do not need to do anything good for the and often those with influence encourage politicians to discriinate against igrants Lack of networks and counication: we need ore counication between igrant workers and Thai workers, between igrant workers groups and Thai trade unions to help create a network of solidarity 15

21 Moveent in jobs: soe jobs involve igrants to ove to different locations as tie goes on, in the construction industry for exaple. This eans it can be hard to unite with other workers for long periods and organise ourselves collectively Isolation: soe jobs are cut off fro other workers and isolated, such as doestic workers. This eans it can be hard to find others in a siilar situation, who understand the issues faced at work. There are no co-workers to join with to stand up for workers rights No coherence: soeties our ais are different which can ean that we are not working together and this stops us developing solidarity Fears of uneployent: If we are uneployed we can t live or support our failies so we fear doing anything that could lead us to lose our jobs Lack of leadership and skills: we need to develop ore leadership skills for everyone so we are all confident in standing up for our rights No experience of unions in Bura: when we arrive in Thailand we have no previous experience of organising in the workplace and uniting in solidarity 16

22 Fear of violence: eployers and the authorities use violence to stop us organising and standing together in solidarity Liited eployent options: we don t have any different choices in jobs so we need to keep the ones we have, we can t afford to be uneployed. Opportunities to Organise: Support: there are any ore igrant organizations working for igrants now than before Counication: we have ore and ore abilities to counicate through technology like phones and the internet, and we can contact people fro other countries and in different languages Trade Unions: we can learn fro other trade unions and work in solidarity with the Skill Sharing: organizations like MAP support igrants to develop organising skills Special Events: we can reach any fellow igrants through cultural events and celebrations Stakeholder: we can participate in policy aking as a stakeholder Need for Migrants: Thailand depends on igrants for the work we do Acceptance: there is now ore acceptance of igrants in Thai counity than there used to be ASEAN: soe resolutions are being created that support igrants Publicity: igrant issues is being discussed at the nation, regional and international level Media: we can use edia as watchdog for organizing and expose exploitation International Laws: we can lobby for international recognition of our needs 17

23 Thai Unions: docuented igrants can be part of Thai unions and work in solidarity People Power: people are already organized, there are woen s groups, deocracy groups environent groups etc, we can do it too! Teporary Passport: the freedo of oveent is beginning to be granted Thai Volunteers: there are ore Thai people volunteering to help igrants, any of the have legal background. Equality & Solidarity: between igrants and Thai workers, it is the way forward! Overcoing Obstacles and Using the Opportunities Later in the eeting, the participants reflected on the lists above and went into ore detail on soe of the issues raised, on how they could use the to really ake progress in organising. 1. How can working with trade unions and networking help us organise? Educate other workers about our issues Inforation fro other trade unions about igrants Teach Thai workers about the rights of igrant workers Iproves counication with authorities 2. How can teporary passports help us organise? Helps to get social security and thus have a social safety net, do not have to worry all the tie, have ore tie to do other things Allows us to travel freely to attend eetings and to obilise Allows us to take a driving test and get a licence. Migrants then do not have to be dependent on others for transportation. Longer period of security (4 years) With docuentation it is easier and safer to call for labour rights Perfor our cultural rights fully without fear, so we are entally ore relaxed. Respond to the situations as they arise Gives us increased confidence Allows ore access to healthcare Right to for associations Sue eployers More opportunities to study IT tech and other skills Better protection under Thai laws 18

24 3. How can participating in policyaking help us organise? If we are invited, we can explain exactly what our probles are Try and change the attitudes of local officials Learn ore about probles in other regions and choose ost useful strategies Increased confidence, organizing knowledge, and power for their oveent 4. What policy changes would overcoe soe of the barriers to organising? ore law enforceent for eployers to confor with the labour laws and standards governent to enforce non-discriination laws Open new registration session for new and unregistered igrant workers and do not liit registration period Rights of igrant workers protected Allowing igrant workers the freedo to change eployers, to choose eployent and eployers. Providing job finding services, so that igrants can find eployers who have a quota Migrant workers should have the right to choose work that akes the feel DIGNITY 5. How can we overcoe the obstacle of fear? Leadership trainings Educate igrants to be confident and deand their rights Mobilize to unite in solidarity REMEMBER THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN THERE ARE OBSTACLES! 19

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