Outsting Govt seen by strikers as outweighing

Bangkok Port at Klong Toei was shut down for nearly four days from last Tuesday before reopening over the weekend as port workers joined the anti-government protest led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to pressure Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej into quitting.

Since Bangkok Port was out of service, a total of 19 vessels were directed to use Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri, while four other vessels were forced to use privately owned docks.

Overall, it meant an additional cost to shippers and transport operators as they had to rearrange their operating plans.

However, there is no legal recourse to claim these extra expenses from the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT), which operates Bangkok Port.

The PAT said it has about 3,500 workers, of which one-third are members of the port's labour union.

According to law, the union may hold extraordinary meetings, which in effect means work stoppages. As for the latest strikes, PAT management was told the union would hold the extraordinary meeting only from noon to 1pm on September 1.

However, their work stoppage was extended after the government imposed state-of-emergency rule the following day.

These unionists were mainly port employees - the nuts and bolts of services on the dock whose inaction paralysed the entire port operation.

PAT management said they did not have jurisdiction over the union, so nothing could be done once they went on strike.

According to the PAT's regulations, union members are strictly non-management employees. Employees ranked internally above the 10th level of a total of 17 levels are not permitted to be union members.

As a result, unionists are mainly lower- or middle-ranking workers with an average age of 40, many of whom are supporters of the anti-government PAD.

Over the past one to two weeks, 100 to 200 PAT employees have regularly joined the PAD protests at Government House after their daily work.

Government House's main compound has been occupied by the PAD since August 26.

These unionists believe the PAD's agenda in ousting the Samak-led government, citing its lack of legitimacy and other political causes, is more important than the PAT's own interest, even though they themselves would also be affected by the agency's loss of income.

In their opinion, anti-government protests with the objective of ousting Samak are also more important than the country's loss of economic and business opportunities and international competitiveness.

While PAT management repeatedly tried to convince union members to return to work to avoid further damage to the country's import and export machinery, these unionists were oblivious to the pleas.