Labour Minister Chalermchai Sri-on will discuss a possible hike in the minimum wage with Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij in Cabinet today.
Meanwhile, the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC) has objected to a plan for tax incentives for firms that raise wages for workers, on grounds that some factories might lie and the hikes may not materialise.
Following the wage hike request - to would coincide with a rise for civil servants - Chalermchai said yesterday he had called the Permanent Secretary for Labour and the central wage committee chairman, Somchai Chumrat, to discuss a tax deduction for factories that boost wages in 2011.
He had assigned Somchai to examine possible impacts from the idea, such as inflation and GDP figures, and to talk with provincial wage committees, before tabling the matter with the central wage committee.
TLSC president Wilaiwan Saetia said her group was gathering information on a prospective wage hike before meeting with Chalermchai in the middle of this month.
Last year the committee found that the minimum wage rate needed to be Bt360 a day for workers to maintain reasonable lives. But Wilaiwan said living costs were higher this year, especially eggs, so the minimum wage should be more than Bt360.
In regard to the government's idea to give tax deductions to factories that agree to increase minimum wages for their workers, she disagreed. This was because of fears some businesses might "cook the books" to claim they had already given a hike when they actually had not. So the move would only benefit employers, not workers, she said.