Page 67 - งานเชิดชูเกียรติผู้หญิงนักปกป้องสิทธิมนุษยชน วันสตรีสากล 2562

Ms. Suthasinee Kaewleklai, worked in the Rangsit district factory
area and is one of the co-founders of the factory’s labor union. Initially,
she was just a member of the union. After, the union president was
dismissed; she was elected as union president by the new committee.
Until 1999, employers frequently delayed paying their workers.
She and other female labor leaders began to demand by taking a break
for more than 2 hours. Later, negotiations led to an agreement to regularly
pay wages on time. While Ms. Kaewleklai and others successfully
guaranteed the on-time delivery of wages, the employer used this as
a reason to dismiss her and the other labor leaders, suing them in the
labor court. Together, the worker leaders challenged their employer in
the Supreme Court, which found that the employer had committed an
offense. The court ordered the company to allow Ms. Kaewleklai and
the other leaders to return to work.
Later, the factory declared bankruptcy. After its closure, she
worked for the Thai campaign for labor rights and the Thai Labor Solidarity
Committee. From 2002-2016, she worked as a coordinator for worker
organizers and field officials. Ms. Kaewleklai advocated for issues affecting
women, workers and religious leaders. During her time as president of
the trade union, she and the women workers joined together to campaign
to make International Women’s Day (the 8th of March) a work holiday,
eventually gaining the approval and support of employers. On that day,
women workers asked for leave to campaign and issue a joint statement.
This was the first trade union in Thailand to have women workers make
the demand. Other factories eventually joined them in their campaign.
Finally, the government recognized International Women’s Day and
declared it an annual holiday.

66