Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 337, June 2005

Case No 2125 (Thailand) - Complaint date: 03-MAY-01 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 159. The Committee last examined this case at its March 2004 session [see 333rd Report, paras. 138-141]. On that occasion, the Committee regretted that for the second time the Government, considering that it was a matter to be dealt with by the national courts, had not taken any steps to ensure that the 21 employees of the ITV-Shin Corporation were reinstated. The Committee noted that, by not taking the required steps, the Government allowed acts of anti-union discrimination to have prolonged, if not irreversible, effects on the workers concerned and thus was not only in clear infringement of the principles of freedom of association, but also rendered the Thai statutory prohibition against anti-union discrimination ineffective. The Committee therefore firmly requested the Government to put an end to such a situation and to take, without delay, active steps to ensure the reinstatement of the 21 employees dismissed on account of their trade union activities.
2. 160. In a communication dated 30 November 2004, the complainant stated that in the past four years, the Labour Relations Committee, the ILO and the Labour Court have all reached decisions in favour of the reinstatement of the 21 dismissed workers. The complainant indicated that the company’s appeal to the Supreme Court has been pending for two years which, in the view of the workers, is an excessive delay constituting a denial of justice where the Government of Thailand has failed to protect the workers whose rights have been violated.
3. 161. In a communication dated 1 February 2005, the Government stated that it was truly aware that the prevention of all acts of anti-union discrimination in the country was its responsibility. The Government stated that, according to section 125 of the Labour Relations Act, 1975, and the Act concerning the Establishment of Labour Court and Labour Court Procedures 1979, ITV Corporation Ltd. had the right to appeal against the order of the Labour Relations Committee to the Central Labour Court and the Supreme Court and the case is presently under consideration by the Supreme Court. The Government indicated that the Ministry of Labour has informed the Supreme Court to take note of the Committee’s recommendation.
4. 162. In its communication of 1 April 2005, the Government transmitted the judgement of the Supreme Court in the case of the ITV-Shin Corporation Limited. The Supreme Court ordered the ITV-Shin Corporation Limited to reinstate all 21 newsroom staff it had dismissed since February 2001. The Supreme Court found the appeal of the ITV-Shin Corporation groundless and its orders dismissing the 21 staff unlawful, upholding the Labour Court’s order for the Corporation to reinstate the 21 journalists and pay damages equivalent to their wages owed to them from the day of their dismissal.
5. 163. The Committee notes this information with satisfaction.