State enterprises
for benefit of the people or state employees?
Day of reckoning
nears as railway union fails to reach
compromise
By Jon Fernquest
Will
the government and the labour union representing the interests of the employees of the State
Railway of Thailand
(SRT) be able to avoid confrontation? A long strike was averted when the government agreed to negotiate with the union but now the negotiations have broken down. What will happen next?
According to modern ideas of corporate governance employees are a stakeholder in a business as well as the shareholders or owners. How big should that stake be?
Today's article follows the vocabulary:
State Railway Thailand (SRT) -
the state-owned rail operator of Thailand, การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย (See Wikipedia)
a union, a labour union - an organization of workers that works to improve their pay and conditions of work
day of reckoning - the day when final solution or resolution of a problem is made (when rewards and punishments are handed out for what happened in the past)
the interests of X in Y - the ways that X may benefit from Y (the connection that person X has to Y which affects X's attitude towards Y)
represent the interests of X in Y- make sure that X benefits from Y
confrontation - an argument or fight between two groups
avoid confrontation - stop or prevent a fight from happening
a strike - when the employees of a company in a labour union stop working because of a disagreement over pay or work conditions
a strike was averted - strike was prevented
negotiations - formal discussions between two groups to reach an agreement
negotiations have broken down - discussions have failed, the two sides have not been able to reach an agreement
corporate governance - the high level policy decisions about how a company is run made by the board of directors on behalf of shareholders and other stakeholders (See wikipedia and stakeholder theory)
a stake in Y - part ownership in Y, right to have a say in the operation of Y
have a stake in Y - how event Y turns out matters to you because you will be affected by it
stakeholders - "Stakeholders are people who affect, and are affected by, the company. This means that a business has to fulfill the needs and wants of many different people ranging from the local population and customers to their own employees and owners. While this has an increased cost, many firms are now switching to this concept because it is perceived that the concept improves the image of a firm and makes them less likely to be targeted by pressure groups." (See Wikipedia on Stakeholder (law) and Stakeholder (corporate)
a union, a labour union - an organization of workers that works to improve their pay and conditions of work
day of reckoning - the day when final solution or resolution of a problem is made (when rewards and punishments are handed out for what happened in the past)
the interests of X in Y - the ways that X may benefit from Y (the connection that person X has to Y which affects X's attitude towards Y)
represent the interests of X in Y- make sure that X benefits from Y
confrontation - an argument or fight between two groups
avoid confrontation - stop or prevent a fight from happening
a strike - when the employees of a company in a labour union stop working because of a disagreement over pay or work conditions
a strike was averted - strike was prevented
negotiations - formal discussions between two groups to reach an agreement
negotiations have broken down - discussions have failed, the two sides have not been able to reach an agreement
corporate governance - the high level policy decisions about how a company is run made by the board of directors on behalf of shareholders and other stakeholders (See wikipedia and stakeholder theory)
a stake in Y - part ownership in Y, right to have a say in the operation of Y
have a stake in Y - how event Y turns out matters to you because you will be affected by it
stakeholders - "Stakeholders are people who affect, and are affected by, the company. This means that a business has to fulfill the needs and wants of many different people ranging from the local population and customers to their own employees and owners. While this has an increased cost, many firms are now switching to this concept because it is perceived that the concept improves the image of a firm and makes them less likely to be targeted by pressure groups." (See Wikipedia on Stakeholder (law) and Stakeholder (corporate)
Stalemate derails SRT plans
Committee to decide railway restructuringAMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK AND WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI
28/07/2009
The future of the State Railway of Thailand rests with Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart after the final round of negotiations with its powerful union failed to make any headway.
The main stumbling block between SRT executives and union leaders is the management model for the Airport Rail Link project connecting the city to Suvarnabhumi airport.
The link, due to start on Dec 5, is seen as the most promising aspect of the SRT's future.
The cabinet last month agreed to the restructuring of the SRT but only if the plan was backed by the union.
It would see the SRT separated into two subsidiary firms handling asset management and services. The airport link would be under the service firm.
While existing SRT staff would be responsible for passenger and freight services under the proposed new structure, the SRT plans to recruit new staff to operate the airport link.
The SRT board yesterday held firm on the plan, saying it would offer better management and more efficiency.
The labour union rejected the plan, saying the airport link should be run as a business unit within the SRT instead of under a new subsidiary.
SRT governor Yutthana Thapcharoen said no more talks would be held with the union as it was pointless.
The union has accused the SRT of having a hidden agenda with future plans to privatise profit-making businesses. SRT executives have denied the suggestion.
The SRT will present its position and the union's argument to a committee chaired by Maj Gen Sanan for a decision.
Despite the conflict between the executives and the union, the SRT governor was confident the launch of the new railways system would go ahead.
SRT union leader Sawit Kaewwan said the union wanted the Airport Rail Link operators to come under the SRT because that would provide an assurance that business units would not be privatised in the future.
Mr Sawit insisted the union's resistance to the SRT plan to set up subsidiaries would not delay the launch of the system.
He did not say what the union would do if its proposal was rejected by the Sanan panel.
Rails strikes
Its strike in late June in opposition to the restructuring left 200,000 passengers stranded and caused the SRT 16 million baht in losses.The Finance Ministry yesterday warned the labour union that more strikes could badly hurt the SRT.
Passengers would become frustrated and switch to other transport services, said Areepong Bhoocha-oom, the director-general of the ministry's State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo).
Mr Areepong said the railway system made up just 2% of the country's available transport services.
Therefore if SRT staff went on prolonged strike, the service could lose out to other kinds of services. Eventually, the SRT would lose more of its already small number of customers, he said.
The Sepo chief said the SRT restructuring must go ahead. Under the restructuring plan, the government would invest about 195 billion baht in the enterprise's business operations from 2010 to 2014. It expects to give the state railway at least 40 billion baht a year.
The investment is in the national interest as Thailand needs to improve its rail transport facilities, Mr Areepong said.
"I hope that SRT staff will agree with the investment plan. It's because the SRT's performance over the past 10 years has clearly proved to be ineffective," he said.
The country could no longer afford to delay the upgrading of the SRT, Mr Areepong said.
(Source: Bangkok Post, front page, Stalemate derails SRT plans: Committee to decide railway restructuring, AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK AND WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI, 28/07/2009, link)
Vocabulary:
a stalemate - a situation in which progress cannot be made (neither side wins or compromises)
derail plans - make plans fail
restructure - to reorganize a company to make it work more efficiently
railway restructuring - reorganizing the railway to make it operate more efficiently
the future rests with Y - the future depends on Y
a round of Y - one event Y in a series
negotiations - formal discussions between two groups to reach an agreement
a round of negotiations - one in a long series of negotiations to solve a problem or reach an agreement
final round of negotiations - the last in a series of negotiations to solve a problem
failed to make any headway - failed to make any progress, did not move ahead, did not achieve anything
a stumbling block - an obstacle, a thing that delays progress, delays, prevents moving ahead
Airport Rail Link, Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link (SARL) - a rapid transit line, provided as an airport rail link from Suvarnabhumi Airport to a City Air Terminal at Makkasan and urban area of Bangkok, Thailand. Most of the line is on viaduct over the main Eastern Railway. It is owned and operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT)
รถไฟฟ้าเชื่อมท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ, แอร์พอร์ตลิงก์ (See Wikipedia)
promising - seems like it will be successful
the most promising aspect of - the part most likely to be successful
backed by Y - Y agrees with and supports
asset management - making sure assets such as real estate and land are put to best use for highest return
freight - goods transported by ships, planes, trains or trucks
recruit new staff - find new employees
the board, board of directors - group chosen by shareholders of company to make high level policy and appoint senior managers, the governing council for a company
SRT board - the governing council for the State Railway of Thailand
held firm on the plan - would not change their mind about the plan
efficiency - getting more done with the same or less resources
pointless - useless, not worth doing, a waste of time
an agenda - goals to be achieved
a hidden agenda - goals that the public can't see and doesn't know about
privatise - turn a government owned and operated company into a privately owned company (owned by shareholders)
denied the suggestion - said what people think might be true, is not true
present its position - explain the public its official opinion on the matter
go ahead -
an assurance, provide an assurance - tell people that something will definitely happen (so that they will not worry)
stranded - cannot leave a place
left 200,000 passengers stranded - 200,000 passengers could not go where they wanted to go
frustrated - want something but cannot get it (for example, want good and reliable service but cannot get it)
state enterprises - companies owned by the government
State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) - the Thai government agency in charge of managing government policy on government owned and operated companies
a prolonged strike - a strike that continues for a long period of time
X loses out to Y - Y gets something that X was trying to get
an enterprise - a company
business operations - the main money-making activities of a business such as manufacturing products, providing services, or buying and selling goods
in the national interest - will benefit the country
facilities - special purpose buildings and equipment
performance - how well or badly something works (or whether an investment provides a reasonable return)
effective - works well, produces intended results
ineffective - does not work well, does not produce intended results
could no longer afford to Y - must stop doing Y, not possible to continue Y anymore
upgrading - improving and making more modern and new
