Walmart supplier in Thailand in rights row | Bangkok Post

Walmart supplier in Thailand in rights row | Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post, May 13, 2012

A Thai union federation has requested that retail giant Walmart investigate allegations of labour rights violations by a Thai supplier in Songkhla province.

The charges against the supplier include breach of wage obligations and withholding migrant workers' passports.

Sawit Kaewvarn, secretary-general of the State Enterprises Workers' Relations Confederation (SERC) sent a letter on Thursday to Rajan Kamalatan, an executive of Walmart's Ethical Sourcing Department, asking him to investigate alleged rights violations at Phatthana Seafood Co in Songkhla's Muang district.

There were large protests in April by migrant workers from Myanmar and Cambodia working for the company.

"SERC concluded there were labour right violations occurring in the factory on a number of different issues, including violations of the Labour Relations Act regarding contracts, wages, and compensation," said the letter.

"There were also violations of the Labour Protection Act including date, duration, job description, wages, as well as the working environment which was reported to be unsafe," it said.

The letter did not mention whether the SERC approached the company's executives with their complaints.

The SERC also said it found that workers' personal documents were confiscated, even though they were permitted to work legally in Thailand.

"Since Thai labour law provides no exceptions for migrant workers, the SERC would like to request Walmart to investigate the matter," the letter said.

Phatthana Seafood denied the allegations, saying the problem was caused by workers misunderstanding the implementation of the new minimum wage.

"We have rectified any misunderstandings with Cambodian workers," the company said. "We have always treated workers in compliance with the applicable international ethical standards."

Pairoj Chotikasatien, chief of the Employment Department in Songkhla, told You Ay, the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand, that Phatthana Seafood abided by all Thai labour laws and looked after Cambodian workers without discrimination, during her visit to the factory on April 23.

According to the minutes of a meeting between the Cambodian diplomat, the company's executives and Thai labour authorities, obtained by the Bangkok Post Sunday, the ambassador was told a misunderstanding arose among the company's 1,050 Cambodian workers when the Thai government increased the minimum wage by 40% from 176 to 246 baht per day on April 1.

Workers received their wages for March _ calculated using the old rate _ on April 5, which caused confusion.

Regarding the accusation that the company had withheld workers' personal documents, the management admitted doing so, but said it was in the best interest of workers. The company said it provided a service to help workers report to immigration officials every 90 days.

Phatthana said it would no longer accept passports, despite the fact that workers valued the service.

The Cambodian ambassador requested the company help collect passports around the time when the 90-day reports were due.