Wage committee meeting rescheduled due to lack of quorum

The meeting of the Tripartite National Wage Committee, which decides the minimum wage for each province, could not start on Friday due to a lack of quorum.

The committee has 15 members, with three five-member teams representing the government, employers and employees respectively.

Pairoj Chotikasathien, permanent secretary at the Labour Ministry and committee chairman, said the meeting had been rescheduled to Tuesday (September 24), with the main agenda of approving the government’s proposal to increase the minimum wage to 400 baht per day nationwide.

Pairoj said that during Friday's session, related agencies presented data of businesses that already pay over 400 baht per day, as well as the number of migrant labourers, who will not be benefited from the 400-baht minimum wage. No voting took place during the session, he added.

Earlier, Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakan told Parliament that the government was sticking to its original timeline of increasing minimum wage nationwide to 400 baht per day from October 1, for selected industries.

Industries that are not included in the first wave of adjustment on October 1 will receive adjustments in the second wave, expected to be announced on January 1 next year, added Phiphat.

Pairoj said if the meeting was not held on Tuesday, voting on the 400-baht minimum wage might be delayed, affecting the government’s proposed October 1 start.

Pairoj insisted that the committee members who missed the meeting on Friday had important missions elsewhere, and that their absence “had no political motives”.