On Jan 9, Hoya workers gathered again in the late afternoon after work to hear the results of the new round of negotiations between their representatives and company executives which had started at 2 pm. About 1,800 of them included the day shift who skipped overtime, and the night shift who were due to work from 8.30 pm.

At about 5.30 pm, Thada Thimaket, one of the representatives, came out and told the crowd that the executives had not yet agreed to their demand for holidays on Dec 30-Jan 4 and April 12-16 for the New Year and Songkran festivals respectively, but offered the duration of Dec 31-Jan 3 and April 13-16 instead. The previously agreed extension of health care coverage to include workers' family members has yet to have an effective date, while the increased daily petrol allowance from 20 to 35 baht will be effective as of Jan 21, and the improvement of facilities will be finished by next month, Thada reported.

During the gathering, a speaker addressed the crowd to expose a rumour that the employer had tried to prevent workers from joining the demonstration by threatening to recruit new workers to replace those who skip OT. According to the speaker, this was impossible because the company would have to find more than 1,000 new workers within a couple of months, who would need job training.

At 8 pm, the negotiations were not yet finished, and the night shift left for work, but the rest decided to continue the demonstration.

Then another negotiator, Srithon Pruengwichathon came on stage to say that for the demanded increase in bonuses, the employer had proposed as a precondition, that workers cannot take leave or be absent from work and must be subject to examination by the HR department, which the negotiating team considered impractical.

The negotiations continued until 00.20 am. In response to the workers' remaining demands, the company made proposals which the negotiating team would forward to the workers for consideration. Besides the as yet unsettled new year and Songkran holidays' duration, the company proposed that workers have 13 additional traditional holidays and receive regular wages, as opposed to the demand for 15 holidays, and in the event that the company asks them to work on those days, the workers can decide to work or not.

The company proposed that workers with 10 years of employment receive 10,000 baht, 15 years 15,000 baht, and 20 years 20,000 baht. And workers who signed to accept reduced special pay for work requiring them to stand from 7 baht per day to 5 baht per day can choose to receive the previous amount of 7 baht. Special pay for work that causes visual strain or presents risks, such as handling chemicals or working in high places will be 10 baht per day.

In response to the demand to allow workers to take 5 days leave a year and a 15-day annual vacation, the company agreed to the 15-day annual vacation on condition that the annual vacation duration will increase by one day per year of service until it reaches the maximum of 15 days in the 10^th year of employment.

Table of vacation duration increase proposed by the company

The number of days absent from work was to be considered in the next round of negotiation. And the demand to change the status of daily-wage workers with 3 years of service to that of regular employees receiving monthly salaries was not settled.

In conclusion, there have been 4 rounds of negotiation on 13 demands, starting on Dec 13, 2007; 5 were settled, 7 are under negotiation, and one demand, a 20% increase of wages, has yet to be discussed.

The next round of negotiation is scheduled for Jan 21 at 10 am.

Demands and results of negotiations as of Jan 9, 2008.

Related news:

Hoya workers' demands need more talks

Japan's Hoya Glass Disk fails to meet Thai workers' demands for pay rise and benefits

Translated by Ponglert Pongwanan