The State Enterprises Workers Relations Confederation (Serc) is demanding that the House of Representatives suspend and revise a bill to amend the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act BE 2543 (2000), saying the draft law is unconstitutional.
The bill amends sections 58 and 77 of the constitution yet no public hearing was conducted for those who may be affected to have their say, said Manop Kuerat, secretary-general of Serc, on Tuesday.
Despite claiming the draft amendment will bring Thailand into line with international labour laws, the draft actually contains content that is in breach of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No.87 and Convention No.98, regarding the violation of rights and freedom of workers in gathering and negotiating with their employers, he said.
"All in all, this bill is even worse than the present act in terms of how badly labour rights will be violated if it is passed into law," said Mr Manop.
Khomsan Thongsiri, president of the labour union of the Metropolitan Electric Authority (MEA), said the 47 state enterprise labour unions had already submitted a written statement against the draft amendment to the government; but no response to the call had been received so far.
Those political parties supporting the law change should be held responsible for their collusion in the violation of the 2017 constitution and distorting facts about the principle of the international labour laws, he said.
"That [their act] has dealt the worst ever blow to the good image of Thailand's protection of labour rights," said Sawit Kaeowan, an adviser to Serc.
If the bill is not withdrawn and revised in accordance with the Thai constitution and international labour laws, state enterprise unions nationwide will boycott all parties involved in the next general election, said Mr Sawit.
