Labor Pains

Fun days in Korat recently. With a slowing economy and slumping UK furniture market, this year's worker bonus has also decreased. Needless to say they weren't happy, and stopped working this past Wednesday - 700 people sitting and twiddling their thumbs for 8 hours. When they came back to work on Thursday, we got rid of the ring leaders, and the rest decided that a reduced bonus and job is better than no bonus and no job. By the time I left the factory on Saturday, things were relatively normal.

That wasn't the case 3 years ago. After announcing a less than expected bonus, the workers walked out. Unlike the current situation, which was cleaned up in a matter of days, it took almost 2 months to get things back in order - due primarily to local and international labor unions, who initiated a smear campaign against our company and its labor practices.


First, I should explain that unlike most people's perception of Asian factories, my factory is nothing like a sweat shop. It exceeds all Thai labor laws and meets the strict requirements of our UK customers like Marks & Spencer.

Don't get me wrong, we're here for cheap labor and the daily wage structure of Thai workers makes them little more than hunter gatherers of the modern age, but we have a safe work environment and pay almost 25% over the minimum wage.

That being said certain individuals with only the "best interest" of our factory workers in mind wrote letters to our customers describing my factory as the "factory from hell". They also organized protests in front of the Thai Parliament in Bangkok.

Below is a picture from a Thai newspaper of a group of protesters (not our workers) that were organized by the Thai National Labor Union.


Notice the guy with the red tie with his foot on a worker's back. He is wearing a sign with the name "Samakey". He represents our HR Manager, Samakey (ironically, Samakey means "unity" in Thai). On the left, there is a girl, also, with her foot on the back of a worker. Her sign says "Sujin" - the name of the local government official from the labor office. Her mouth is taped shut, representing her inability or unwillingness to support the workers - nice touch.

Below are some protesters (once again, a rent-a-mob - not actual staff) who had chained themselves to the gates of Parliament. I'm assuming they went home after the newsman got his shot.

I can laugh about it now, but the 120 workers who sided with the Union were locked out and eventually lost their jobs, and most had to move away, as they were not able to find new jobs in Korat.

To this day, the labor organizer is still lurking around Korat and other industrial zones throughout Thailand, looking for union fees, donations from sympathetic international labor organizations, and a marketable voting block. Fortunately, this year, for the sake of all involved, he felt our staff didn't deserve his help.