Thailand’s Federation of State Enterprise Labour Relations, the umbrella organization of state enterprise unions, has voiced its strong objection to a court-sanctioned rehabilitation scheme for Thai Airways International, saying that it does not trust the government-initiated plan.
Federation member unions, and staff of THAI, held a brain-storming session on Tuesday, to discuss the planned rehabilitation under the protection of the Thai bankruptcy law, and agreed to set up a parallel rehabilitation committee to monitor the official process.
In a statement, issued today, the federation claimed that THAI proposed its own rehabilitation plan two years ago, through the State Enterprise Policy Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The plan was approved by the cabinet at that time, without the participation of the THAI labour union.
The plan failed, and drove the already ailing national flag carrier to the edge of bankruptcy, without anyone being held accountable, said the federation, adding that the protection and rehabilitation petition, currently awaiting consideration by the Central Bankruptcy Court, includes no input from the airline’s staff.
“This amounts to the theft of THAI, the national flag carrier, and an attempt to disband the THAI labour union,” said the federation, as it criticized the Finance Ministry’s move to reduce its stake in the ailing airline to below 50%. The Ministry’s move automatically strips THAI of its state enterprise status and dissolves the THAI labour union.
The federation said that the Government’s approach is wrong, and should have started with finding out the truth about the real problems in the company, which have brought the airline to its knees.
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