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Labor Processes
Mr. Narong Chokwatana of the Bangkok Rubber Group
introduced labor management mechanisms now applied throughout
the Bangkok Rubber Group. For example, he created a "satellite"
program in which manufacturers subcontract production to smaller
factories in villages so as to provide employment there. Many
workers appreciate not having to move to congested and expensive
urban areas. At the same time, the company saves on labor costs.
Workers in these remote areas are paid a minimum wage of 130 baht
(US$ 3.71) per day.
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Workers using cleaning solvents
without protective gloves. The heat in the factory
makes the use of plastic gloves intolerable.
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Mr. Narong also instituted a system by which wages
are calculated according to specified targets. Many workers in
the main manufacturing units can reach the target and receive
wages which are higher than the minimum wage. However, some workers,
especially those in the Bangkok Rubber Group's subcontracting
communities, receive less than the minimum wage even while working
in excess of the maximum overtime. Payment at an hourly rate calculated
by fulfillment of productivity norms, rather than according to
hours worked, satisfies many workers in the main factories in
the industrial town in Sena Area, but not in the subcontracted
community factories where the workers have fewer mass-production
related skills. In the Bangkok Rubber Group's Rungsit Footwear
in Sena district, workers occasionally received more than the
minimum wage. In Uthai Thani province the workers in most of the
village subcontracting communities were underpaid for over time,
from 1.5 % to 36% of the minimum wage. Although, the Bangkok Rubber
Group management explained the underpayment as an error in recording,
the company has yet to resolve the problem.
The adoption of the target rate system at other
manufacturers has been decidedly less welcome. The application
of strict target rates has made it difficult for even experienced
workers to work at a pace that would ensure a minimum wage. It
is especially difficult to meet target rates in the stitching
section. After the introduction of the target rate system at the
Wongpaitoon factory, workers who cut uppers were first expected
to cut 2,400 pieces per day. If workers met that target, they
would be paid for 8 hours, at the minimum wage, and 2 hours, at
an overtime rate. Recently, after a Reebok manager assumed responsibility
for managing the Wongpaitoon factory, the calculation of time
required to meet the target rate was reduced to 8 hours. Workers
often must do overtime just to meet the target rate and to receive
the minimum wage.
This system makes minimum wage rates meaningless,
as workers often must do overtime, effectively without pay, in
order to meet mandated quotas. If workers labor at a comfortable
rate and fail to meet the mandated targets, they will be issued
warnings and fired within a matter of days. For many workers,
the experience of working feverishly to meet the target rate is
an experience similar to forced labor.
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