Labour Voice Hotline: A Right Call for Worker Rights in Thailand

The Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN) has been working closely with the government, private sectors and the workers themselves to promote human rights in Thailand and abroad for decades. One of the most painful truths that we have found is that their voices can barely be heard. In many cases, the workers, especially migrant labours, do not even knows that they have a right to raise a concern.

Initiated in late 2017, Labour Hotline and Workers Training Program are co-project between LPN and Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), a leading Thai agro-business conglomerate, to promote labour rights, helping the workers, especially migrant group, to raise their concerns, ensuring fair treatment as well as gaining access to health and social benefits.

LPN believes that this service will be a crucial governance mechanic to build equality for all level of employees.

Normally, migrant workers report their concerns directly to their employers, which take a long time and complex. It has caused a lot of stress and anxiety to the workers. Labour Voice is working as a third party that listen to all concerns as a friend without any bias opinion and shorten the process. It also offers services in Thai, English, Burmese and Cambodian to facilitate workers, making them feel comfortable to talk.

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LPN also shares useful information about labour laws in many languages and various channels such as Facebook to keep workers up to date with new regulations.

Nowadays, the workers are engaged with reporting process. They trust in this new system and are happy to share their ideas and also invite their friends and families to use the service. Subsequently, CP Foods are able to understand the root of problems and promptly deliver solutions.

Besides the hotline, LPN is raising awareness on labour rights and laws to local and migrant workers, who work for CP Foods nationwide through training programs.

24 training sessions were organized last year to help over ten thousands of the company’s workers, regardless where they came from, understand their rights and gain access to welfare, resulting better quality of life.

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In the second year, the project will focus on engagement activities with migrant workers such as house visit, in-depth worker interviews, group interview and social network communications.

The purpose is to deeply understand problems of those workers, enabling LPN to form a proactive solutions that can help them to adjust to life in Thailand easier and have a happy life throughout the time with CP Foods.

LPN believe that the partnership with private sector, for example, CP Foods, will bring a positive change to the workers’ life, making their voice to be heard and setting the new and internationally recognized standard for labour management in Thailand.