Thailand: Reform the Labor Relations Act to allow migrant workers the right to form their own unions

ภาษาไทย မြန်မာဘာသာစကား ភាសាខ្មែរ

Foreign migrant workers comprise the majority of those employed in the Thai seafood industry. This includes hundreds of thousands of young women and men who have come from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos to work in commercial processing factories, on fishing vessels, and on farms. The seafood they catch and process is sold to international companies – this powers the Thai economy and puts food on the plates of people around the world. However, unlike Thai workers, foreign workers are, by law, explicitly denied their fundamental labor rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. This is extremely problematic in migrant-dominated industries such as seafood processing and fishing. Thai law and the labor practices of Thai suppliers mean that migrant workers are blocked from doing the one thing most likely to improve working conditions or prevent abuse: building and leading their own unions. 

In August 2022, the Thai government announced that it had undertaken efforts to prevent human trafficking including the development of key laws related to migrant workers' rights to form a trade union. However, the Labor Relations Act (1975) remains on the books and prevents migrant workers from forming their own unions. Until this law is reformed, migrant workers remain at high risk of exploitation. 

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