Thai migrant labour exploited in Poland
By Jon Fernquest
The
exploitation
of Thai migrant
labour in
Poland has made the news recently. In the past, a similar exploitation of Burmese migrant labour in Thailand has made the news (Read article).
"In the best of all possible worlds" perhaps there would be no exploitation of migrant labour anywhere.
What if all countries abided by international standards set by the ILO that protect the labour rights of migrant workers?
Then everyone would be happy.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
migrant labour - workers who move to
another country or region to work and make more money (See Wikipedia)
exploit - treat people unfairly to get benefit for yourself
exploitation (noun) - treating people unfairly to benefit yourself
ILO - International Labour Organisation, the United Nations organisation that deals with workers' rights (See Wikipedia)
"In the best of all possible worlds" - in an ideal human world that does not exist now and perhaps could never exist, the famous phrase used by Dr Panglos in Voltaire's Candide (See Wikipedia)
abided by ILO standards - followed ILO standards
rights - something you are legally or morally allowed to do or are entitled to (must get) (See Wikipedia) สิทธิ์
labour rights - things that labourers are entitled to (See Wikipedia)
exploit - treat people unfairly to get benefit for yourself
exploitation (noun) - treating people unfairly to benefit yourself
ILO - International Labour Organisation, the United Nations organisation that deals with workers' rights (See Wikipedia)
"In the best of all possible worlds" - in an ideal human world that does not exist now and perhaps could never exist, the famous phrase used by Dr Panglos in Voltaire's Candide (See Wikipedia)
abided by ILO standards - followed ILO standards
rights - something you are legally or morally allowed to do or are entitled to (must get) (See Wikipedia) สิทธิ์
labour rights - things that labourers are entitled to (See Wikipedia)
MIGRANT LABOUR
Poland 'exploiting Thai farm workers'
20/03/2010Sirikul Bunnag
Labour activists have demanded Polish authorities suspend issuing visas for Thai workers unless the problem of labour rights violations in its agricultural sector is solved.
Janya Yimprasert, Union of the Thai Overseas Workers chairwoman, yesterday lodged a petition with the Polish embassy in Bangkok asking it to solve the problem of Thai workers being exploited by recruitment firms and employers.
migrant labour - workers who move to
another country or region to work and make more money (See Wikipedia)
exploit - treat people unfairly to get benefit for yourself
authorities - government officials and departments เจ้าหน้าที่ของรัฐ, ผู้มีอำนาจ เจ้าหน้าที่
suspend - to stop for a period of time ยกเลิกชั่วคราว, ระงับชั่วคราว, หยุดชั่วคราว
issue - officially giving something to people ออกคำสั่ง
violations - actions that break law or agreement
sector - a part of a country's economic or business activity ภาค (เศรษฐกิจ) (public sector = government, private sector = all businesses, household sector = families and consumers, banking sector,...) (See Wikipedia)
petition - a document signed by a large number of people demanding or requesting some action from the government or another authority การถวายฎีกา,การร้องเรียน
embassy - a group of officials who represent their government in a foreign country สถานทูต
exploited - use someone for your own gain and possibly harm them
recruitment - the process of finding people to work for a company or become a new member of an organisation การสรรหาใหม่
employers - companies that hire workers
exploit - treat people unfairly to get benefit for yourself
authorities - government officials and departments เจ้าหน้าที่ของรัฐ, ผู้มีอำนาจ เจ้าหน้าที่
suspend - to stop for a period of time ยกเลิกชั่วคราว, ระงับชั่วคราว, หยุดชั่วคราว
issue - officially giving something to people ออกคำสั่ง
violations - actions that break law or agreement
sector - a part of a country's economic or business activity ภาค (เศรษฐกิจ) (public sector = government, private sector = all businesses, household sector = families and consumers, banking sector,...) (See Wikipedia)
petition - a document signed by a large number of people demanding or requesting some action from the government or another authority การถวายฎีกา,การร้องเรียน
embassy - a group of officials who represent their government in a foreign country สถานทูต
exploited - use someone for your own gain and possibly harm them
recruitment - the process of finding people to work for a company or become a new member of an organisation การสรรหาใหม่
employers - companies that hire workers
She asked Polish labour officials to look into the problem and also force Polish employers who hired Thai labourers to follow the employment law.
She said one way of preventing the problem was for the Polish embassy to stop giving visas to Thai workers to pressure employers to improve working conditions they offered the Thais.
Ms Janya was accompanied by more than 50 workers who were lured to work in Poland.
employment
- having a paid job
pressure - when people are pushed or forced to so something
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
accompanied - went with, went together with ติดตาม, ร่วมทาง, เดินทางไปด้วย
lured - persuaded to do something by making it look very attractive
pressure - when people are pushed or forced to so something
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
accompanied - went with, went together with ติดตาม, ร่วมทาง, เดินทางไปด้วย
lured - persuaded to do something by making it look very attractive
Most of them paid money to Kitti Brothers Recruitment Co and Thai Syntax Travel Service Co, which were the two main brokers sending Thai workers to Poland, Ms Janya said.
After arriving in Poland, the workers were sent to work under the supervision of two local recruitment agencies, NOBA Co and East West Co.
They were forced to work in various farms and plants without a permanent employer, which is illegal under Polish law.
supervision
- the process of making sure that something is being done properly
การควบคุมดูแล การตรวจตรา
local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
recruit (verb) - find people to join a company or organisation
recruitment (noun) - the activity of recruiting
recruitment agencies - companies that do recruitment as their business
plants - factories
permanent - happening or existing for a long time or for all time in the future ถาวร
employer - a person, company, or organisation that pays someone to work for them as a member of their staff นายจ้าง
illegal - against the law ผิดกฎหมาย, นอกกฎหมาย
local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
recruit (verb) - find people to join a company or organisation
recruitment (noun) - the activity of recruiting
recruitment agencies - companies that do recruitment as their business
plants - factories
permanent - happening or existing for a long time or for all time in the future ถาวร
employer - a person, company, or organisation that pays someone to work for them as a member of their staff นายจ้าง
illegal - against the law ผิดกฎหมาย, นอกกฎหมาย
Thirty-three Thai workers have been arrested in Poland and detained this year.
Many returned home unpaid by their employers. Each returnee should have received 60,000-90,000 baht in wages, Ms Janya said.
Several workers were forced to work on the farms for 24 hours a day, but did not get overtime for months in a row. Their living conditions are also bad," she said.
She urged the two governments to work together in helping workers who have fallen victim to forced labour and human trafficking.
detained - put in
jail or prison
wages - the amount of money earned per hour by a worker
returnee - person who is returning to a country or other place
overtime - extra hours worked beyond normal hours (with extra pay)
urged - advised someone very strongly about what action should be taken วิงวอน
victim - someone who has been harmed, injured or killed as the result of a crime เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย
human trafficking - "a criminal activity in which people are recruited, harboured, transported, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose, such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery" (See Wikipedia)
wages - the amount of money earned per hour by a worker
returnee - person who is returning to a country or other place
overtime - extra hours worked beyond normal hours (with extra pay)
urged - advised someone very strongly about what action should be taken วิงวอน
victim - someone who has been harmed, injured or killed as the result of a crime เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย
human trafficking - "a criminal activity in which people are recruited, harboured, transported, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose, such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery" (See Wikipedia)
She also asked the Labour Ministry to review its policy of allowing private recruitment firms to send local workers to work overseas.
She said figures showed many recruitment firms had illegally overcharged their clients.
They charged workers between 120,000-400,000 baht each in brokerage fees.
policy
- a set of plans and ideas used for making decisions in politics and
economics and other areas นโยบาย (See Wikipedia)
figures - statistics, numbers describing the economy
charge - request payment for good or service sold to someone
overcharge - request a payment that is too high (for what you sold the customer)
clients - (formal) customer ลูกค้า
brokerage - a business that sells things for other people or businesses (See Wikipedia)
fees - money that you pay to be allowed to do something ค่าธรรมเนียม
figures - statistics, numbers describing the economy
charge - request payment for good or service sold to someone
overcharge - request a payment that is too high (for what you sold the customer)
clients - (formal) customer ลูกค้า
brokerage - a business that sells things for other people or businesses (See Wikipedia)
fees - money that you pay to be allowed to do something ค่าธรรมเนียม
The law caps the fee at 50,000 baht, Ms Janya said.
She also discussed with labour officials the possibility of forcing the Thai and Polish brokerage firms to pay compensation to the victims.
fee
- an amount of money that you pay to be allowed to do something
ค่าธรรมเนียม, ค่าตอบแทน, ค่าบริการ
compensation - money paid to a person for damage, harm or injury they suffered เงินชดเชย, การจ่า่ยเงินชดเชย
victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.
compensation - money paid to a person for damage, harm or injury they suffered เงินชดเชย, การจ่า่ยเงินชดเชย
victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.
(Source: MIGRANT LABOUR, Poland 'exploiting Thai farm workers', 20/03/2010, Sirikul Bunnag, link)
