RLUG led a strategic project to expand union membership rights and build stronger, more inclusive unions across Thailand’s manufacturing sector.
Key achievements
Through strategic organising:
- Grew to 19 member unions with three new affiliations
- Elected 14 new union committee members under age 35, shifting leadership demographics
- Changed six union constitutions to specifically allow subcontracted and migrant workers to:
- Join as full union members
- Stand for election to union committees
- Vote in union elections
- Access all union benefits and protections
- Built membership above 60% in six unions, strengthening collective bargaining power
- Engaged 374 workers (249 men, 125 women) in union activities
- Delivered 13 study groups covering workers’ rights and organising strategies
- Conducted five two-day seminars on collective bargaining
- Involved young workers in May Day and Decent Work Day rallies, building activism
Challenges faced
- Target of forming one new union not achieved due to employer resistance
- Only three unions, rather than planned five, changed constitutions during project timeframe
- Building initial contacts in non-union workplaces required longer relationship building than expected
- Some unions hesitant about constitutional changes due to concerns about impact on existing membership
Project impact
The project successfully:
- Removed structural barriers to migrant and subcontracted worker participation
- Developed new generation of union leaders under 35
- Built strong foundations in five non-union workplaces
- Strengthened education programmes on workers’ rights
- Created pathways for previously excluded workers to access union protection
