Labour union urges extra vaccinations

Labour union urges extra vaccinations

Chalee says affected workers need help

A labour group yesterday called on the government to speed up Covid-19 vaccine distribution to all the country's workers, including migrants, as part of their demands to mark Labour Day on Saturday.

Chalee Loysoong, vice president of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC), said workers nationwide have been badly affected by the pandemic and the first thing the government should do is speed up vaccine distribution to them.

"If the majority of workers are vaccinated, it can help reduce infections and will clear the way for schemes to revive the economy," he said.

Mr Chalee suggested that the government consider extending the Mor 33 Rao Rak Kan financial aid scheme if the outbreak did not subside soon, saying the scheme did answer to the workers' needs.

Rao Rak Kan is a financial remedy to assist employees covered by Section 33 of the Social Security Act. Those eligible for the aid get a 4,000-baht subsidy which can be used until the end of May.

However, he said the government should review the eligibility criteria which excluded those having more than 500,000 baht deposited in bank accounts as of December 2020 from the project.

According to Mr Chalee, there was progress in the group's proposed establishment of a "labour bank" to offer low-interest loans to help workers. More details were expected within this month.

The proposed bank was designed as a specialised system for providing financial assistance to low-income workers, many of whom were in the clutches of loan sharks.

It was floated in July last year at a seminar on the Social Security Fund(SSF), whose assets at that time stood at about 2 trillion baht, 80% invested in security assets and 20% in high-risk assets.

One of the models discussed at the seminar was that the SSF members would invest about 3,000 baht each to raise 30 billion baht to be the source of funds.

Those eligible to obtain loans must be subscribers of the SSF, who could be granted credit no more than three times their salaries or not exceeding 45,000 baht.

Repayment would be deducted from their salaries.

Sawit Kaewvarn, president of TLSC, said the virus crisis had worsened the quality of life of workers nationwide and the government needed to implement more measures to alleviate hardship.

He said the relief measures should also cover expenses such as power, water and phone bills and a reduction in tuition fees, as well as support the private sector to secure vaccines for their employees.

Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin yesterday accepted the petition from the labour representatives and promised to look into their plight.

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