PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN — Employees of an aloe vera canning factory in Pran Buri district went on strike Monday in a protest over unpaid salaries.
About 300 workers of Pranburi Pineapple Canning Co began rallying outside the company’s human resources department at noon and demanded the management meet with them to explain why they had not been paid for almost two months.
But no executives showed up, and Human Resources staff said they could not clarify the cause of the delayed payments. The plant recently retooled in a switch from processing pineapple to canning aloe vera, but has kept its original name.
Worker Araya Poompuang, 48, who has worked at the plant for 20 years, said besides the delayed salary, the company failed to pay employees who worked overtime and were supposed to be paid 1.5 times the normal hourly rate based on the government’s 300-baht daily minimum wage policy. It also asked workers to lie about the lack of overtime payments when labour officials recently inspected the plant, she said.
Another worker, Aumnuay Rakou, 46, said none of his colleagues had received a salary, and he had been forced to borrow money from a loan shark to deal with household expenses.
The workers also believe the company has failed to pay its employer contributions to the Social Security Fund (SSF) while cutting contributions from their salaries.
The group said workers would stay on strike until they receive payment.
Sukij Krutkong, of Labour Protection and Welfare Office in the province, said he tried to call the factory’s executives but could not contact them. Mr Sukij asked the disgruntled staff to submit a petition with the agency so that he could take action against the factory.