Swiss-funded Thai climate project accused of labour abuse

Bangkok skyline Keystone

A Thai electric bus company, which is partially financed by Swiss CO₂ tax funds, stands accused of violating local labour rights in Bangkok.

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As part of the Paris Climate Agreement, Switzerland finances electric buses in Bangkok. This will reduce emissions in Thailand, and Switzerland will in turn receive CO₂ certificates. This is the first compensation project of its kind in the world.

But the Thai company that manufactures the buses is accused of violating trade union rights, according to the Beobachter.

We meet Su an hour’s drive outside Bangkok. He tells us how much hope he had placed in the new union that he founded last year with other employees. Su’s real name is different and he wishes to remain anonymous. He wanted to be elected as the union’s chairman. The shock came on the day of the meeting.

He says he was called into his supervisor’s office, where he was told that his employment had ended and that he was no longer allowed to enter the company.

International criticism

The accusation that he was sick too often, says Su, is a pretext. The company, Absolute Assembly, wanted to get rid of him. A short time later, a second founding member of the new union was fired.

David Welsh of the US international workers’ organisation Solidarity Center is disappointed. “Instead of welcoming serious negotiations, the union leadership was fired,” he said. The employees were promised benefits if they did not join the union.

The company’s actions have had a negative impact on the growth of the new union, according to Larey Yoopensuk from the trade union association TEAM. At present, the union’s negotiating power is very low because it has too few members. Only about 10% of the original members remain in the union.

The parent company of Absolute Assembly, Energy Absolute, wrote in response to the allegations that the company had complied with the laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Thailand and that the employees’ rights to union membership had been protected. Both sides had found a beneficial and satisfactory solution.

Investor obligations

Georg Leutert from the international trade union association IndustriALL disagrees. IndustriALL approached the Swiss government last year, asking them to intervene with the Thai employer. The company only reacts to international pressure, says Leutart.

Unfortunately, says Leutert, international investors very often do not look very closely at ​​employee and trade union rights before issuing funds.

However, under the Paris Climate Agreement, these foreign partners are responsible for ensuring that labour standards are adhered to.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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