Chronology of Thai Durable Campaign

15 February 2000
The Thai Durable Textile Labour Union submitted a letter asking for a raise of one Baht per day raise for every worker as well as a two-month bonus.

24 April 2000
TDT management maintained that the decision on wage increases is the company's sole jurisdiction, and not the workers, essentially denying the workers' right to collective bargaining.

29 May 2000
The Labour Union submitted a letter to inform the head of Thai Durable that they would stage protest on May 30.

1 June 2000
Thai Durable allowed only non-union members to resume work.

7 June 2000
About 1500 workers from neighbouring Prapadaeng and Aom Yai areas visited the protesting Thai Durable workers to give moral support. But they were dispersed by tear gas allegedly ordered by the Thai Durable management. The incident was witnessed by a number of police officers.

14-15 June 2000
About 20 unidentified persons hid in the company's compound and sprayed fire-extinguisher chemicals on the protesting workers. Fourteen workers had to be hospitalized.

21 June 2000
The head of Thai Durable got a court order prohibiting the locked-out workers from blocking the company's gate.

22 June 2000
A group of approximately 200 men "broke" through the company gates and attacked over 200 women union members engaged in a sit-in. Again the police witnessed the incident but no action was taken.

27 July 2000
The workers submitted appeals to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai as well as the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare and sent a package to the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights.

1 August 2000
Failure on the part of the government to initiate a tripartite discussion prompted some of the protesting workers to move to the Government House.

18 September 2000
Several union leaders are illegitimately arrested and questioned. The workers protest outside the police station. Read the Bangkok Post's report.

17-21 October 2000
Three Thai Durable Union leaders attended ASEM People Forum in Seoul.

26 October 2000
The Ministry of Labour ordered the company to reinstate all the workers and asked the Labour Relation Committee to judge the dispute. Only 680 wokers were reinstated. 390 workers were refused when they tried to return and are still protesting at the Ministry of Labour demanding to be reinstated. Read the Bangkok Post's report.

18 November 2000
A fire broke out at the A2 building of the Thai Krieng Durable factory.

23 November 2000
The company announced an emergency close down and ordered 532 of the reinstated workers to stop working without pay, even though few of them worked in the fire-damaged sector. The company announced that the factory would be opened again on the 23rd of December 2000.

23 December 2000
Only about 200 workers were reinstated. The company announced that 184 would be reinstated on the 8th of January and 142 on the 1st of February.

28 December 2000
The company signed a Debt Definitive Restructuring Agreement for 670 million baht worth of debt with the Bangkok Bank.

4 January 2001
The Manager Newspaper reported that Wing Wah, a company from Hong Kong, bought 51% of the Thai Durable Textile company shares and became the majority shareholder.

8 January 2001
Only 48 workers were allowed to return instead of 184 as promised. There are still nearly 200 union workers waiting to return to work after the fire and another 390 union workers are still protesting, having never been reinstated after the June 1st lock-out.