Workers give Pheu Thai Party six months to raise wage as promised

BANGKOK, July 18 (TNA) - Representatives of workers have urged Thailand's majority-elected Pheu Thai Party to raise daily minimum wages to 300 baht and monthly salaries of new graduates to 15,000 baht equally across the country, as promised during their electoral campaign, within six months.

Led by Chalee Loysung, Chairman of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, the representatives of local workers submitted a nine-point written demand to the Pheu Thai Party at its headquarters in Bangkok on Monday, calling for the new Pheu Thai Party-led administration to include their demand into its policy statement to be presented to the Thai Parliament.

Chalee said that the nine-point demand includes the ratification of two conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on workers' rights on mass rallies and bargaining talks and raising daily minimum wages to 300 baht and monthly salaries for new graduates to 15,000 baht nationwide by January 1, 2012.

The Thai Labour Solidarity Committee claimed that its survey in 2008 showed that a fair minimum wage in Thailand should be 421 baht a day, or 12,630 baht a month.

Pheu Thai Party Deputy Spokesman Jirayu Huangsap said when receiving the workers' demand that his party would keep its promise and would consider all relevant factors when tailoring policies to solve labour problems to ensure their optimum, taking opinions and proposals of the local business sector into account.

Meanwhile, the outgoing ruling Democrat Party urged the new Pheu Thai Party-led government to raise the minimum wages and salaries, as promised, by early next year; otherwise it could be accused of deceiving the public. (TNA)