Read this article in:
5 November, 2007
With the ICEM’s Bangkok Congress just two weeks away, the familiar privatisation saga of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is again back in the news. The ICEM has given a vibrant global voice to this struggle for four years, and we’re proud now to bring trade unionists of the world an update.
In March 2006, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered Thaksin’s EGAT privatisation plan cancelled, and in September 2006, Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra himself was cancelled. EGAT-LU, the 18,000-member ICEM affiliate at the national utility, helped make that happen through relentless four years of strikes and marches to stop Thaksin’s 25% stock float of their power company.
EGAT-LU demonstration in 2006
This year, Thailand’s interim government resurrected parts of the failed EGAT privatisation plan, revising portions into something called the Energy Operation Bill. EGAT-LU has called for mobilisation against this draft measure; it has quickly brought consumer groups back in opposition; and demonstrations are sure to intensify this week when the bill is scheduled to be heard in the National Legislative Assembly.
Part of the opaque leftovers from Thaksin’s plan are included in the interim government’s bill. Specifically, the draft bills calls for creation of a privatisation policy committee having too few members, but having wide latitudes to determine all privatisation matters.
On 26 October, EGAT-LU called for mobilisations at EGAT worksites across Thailand. Small rallies have already begun against the Energy Operation Bill, and the union conducted bigger ones last week at EGAT’s headquarters in Nonthaburi. After experiencing difficult and prolonged negotiations with the government over privatisation, EGAT-LU has called for the bill to be scrapped, particularly with the military’s interim government coming to an end. Democratic elections are scheduled to take place on 23 December 2007 in Thailand.
“Privatisation affects all people in this country and such an important matter cannot be left to just a handful of authorities that have not been elected by the people,” said EGAT-LU Chairman Sirichai Main-gam. “The bill gives sweeping power to one committee to supervise privatisation schemes,” he said, adding that the committee is vacant of any “people’s participation.”
EGAT-LU and its allied consumer and human rights groups know something about civilian participation in the affairs of state. They did it between 2002 and 2006. It is part of the fallen Thaksin legacy. They now insist that a critical issue such as privatising EGAT cannot occur before the democratic voice of the country is heard.