The Labour Ministry is negotiating with recruitment agencies to help Thai berry-pickers who worked in Northern Europe and who filed complaints that they had not received the minimum wages they were promised, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said on Monday.
Mr Chomklin said he had assigned his assistant Surachai Chaitrakultong to talk to the representatives of Thai recruitment agencies with the Labour Ministry's permanent secretary Boonchob Suthamanaswong and the Department of Employment's director-general Pairoj Chotikasatien.
Mr Suchart said that almost 200 workers, or 1-2% of the Thai berry-pickers in Sweden and Finland, have claimed that their net income did not meet the agreed minimum wage. Most of them are newly recruited workers who were sent to berry farms for the first time.
"I told the Employment Department and Department of Labour Protection and Welfare to review work contracts. Despite new workers experiencing trial and error, they should not end up with more debt," said Mr Suchart.
Mr Pairoj said the Employment Department had conducted a survey of returned berry-picking workers' happiness in Sweden and Finland. Some 60% of 6,250 participants said that they were satisfied with the fruit-picking work.
According to the survey, 649 reportedly earned more than 100,000 baht per month while 2,535 workers said their monthly income ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 baht. As many as 2,863 workers made 30,000 to 50,000 baht per month. Another 203 said they made less than 30,000 baht per month.
Recruitment agency contracts guarantee a minimum monthly income of 23,183 Swedish krona or 81,372 Thai baht, a standard salary agreed upon by both Thai and Swedish officials.
Workers who were recruited by Star Royal Service Co Ltd said that the agency told them to sign a contract where they had to be responsible for expenses worth up to 130,000 baht to cover plane tickets, visas, accident and health insurance, accommodation and car rental.