Factory owes workers almost B20m

Textile factory workers in Samut Prakan's Phra Samut Chedi district rally outside the provincial hall on Wednesday to petition Samut Prakan governor Supamit Chinsri to help accelerate payment of unpaid wages. (Photo: Boonlert Saengphan Facebook)
Textile factory workers in Samut Prakan's Phra Samut Chedi district rally outside the provincial hall on Wednesday to petition Samut Prakan governor Supamit Chinsri to help accelerate payment of unpaid wages. (Photo: Boonlert Saengphan Facebook)

Labour authorities have ordered the operator of a textile factory in Samut Prakan province to speed up paying more than 100 workers wages totalling 19.33 million baht.

The 109 workers also will receive 15% interest on the wages, which their employer had failed to pay them from July 2020 to April of this year.

The workers are among 115 employees in total who lodged complaints with labour inspectors claiming they were paid only partially by their employer, who refused to lay them off and give them their full severance pay, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said on Wednesday.

The complainants included two people who were due to retire and entitled to receive more than 350,000 baht in compensation, he said.

The minister was responding after employees rallied outside Samut Prakan's City Hall and petitioned the provincial governor to accelerate payment of their unpaid wages.

After the employer's business was affected by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the firm began cutting staff working days and paying them only partially, said Mr Suchart, citing an investigation by local labour authorities.

Most recently, the textile factory, in Phra Samut Chedi district, was on April 18 forced to cease operations when the electricity supply was cut off because the company failed to pay its bills.

"As a result, these people can no longer work there, but the employer keeps paying them only part of what they are owed," he said.

Vocabulary

  • accelerate: to happen or make something happen at a faster rate - เร่ง, เร่งความเร็ว, เพิ่มความเร็ว
  • cease: to stop - จบ, ยุติ
  • complainant (noun): a person who makes a formal complaint - ผู้ร้อง(ทุกข์)
  • entitled: having the right to have or do something - มีสิทธิโดยชอบ
  • lodge a complaint: to make a formal statement to someone in authority that someone has done something wrong - ยื่นคำร้อง
  • partially: in part, but not completely - บางส่วน
  • petition: a request of someone in authority to do something - คำร้อง
  • rally: a public meeting that a lot of people go to in order to support someone or protest against someone or something - การชุมนุมประท้วง
  • severance pay: money paid to a work who has been forced to leave his or her job - การให้เงินทดแทนการถูกออกจากงาน
  • textile: involved in making woven or knitted cloth - สิ่งทอ, ผ้า
  • wage: an amount of money that you earn for working, usually according to how many hours or days you work each week or month - ค่าจ้าง
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