March is another important month for the JELI team to promote worker rights! Below you will find the most recent updates related to the work we have been doing here at JELI:
Campaigns
International Women’s Day
On the International Women’s Day, the JELI team would like to take this opportunity to honor all the women workers who are fighting against all injustices. If we unite and fight together, another world is possible!
No NPO Bill
Freedom of assembly is a fundamental right of democracy and the core of an active civil society. However, the government is attempting to exert excessive control over the civil society by proposing the Draft Act on the Operations of Not-for-Profit Organizations (NPO bill). If the bill is passed, citizens will face difficulties engaging in issues that affect them. Therefore, JELI join the #NoNPOBill movement and urge the government to stop the bill and return freedom to the people!
Events
Lunch Party for Women Workers
On the International Women’s Day, the JELI team hosted a lunch party with female platform workers to celebrate, give away reusable sanitary pads that we received from another women’s organization, and talk about what it’s like to be a woman. Many of them have to leave behind their children at the hometown to work in Bangkok. Unfortunately, some of the children faced domestic violence by the fathers. Some mentioned how their mothers had always favored their brothers since little and vowed that they will never do the same to their children.
Seminar: Presenting the Recommendations from the Working Group on Legal Protection for Platform Workers
On March 22, in collaboration with Labor Committee of the House of Representatives, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), and the Institute of Asian Studies from Chulalongkorn University, JELI held a seminar on “Presenting the Recommendations from the Working Group on Legal Protection for Platform Workers” at Century Park Hotel, Bangkok. 50 participants were invited, including platform workers, scholars, and representatives from the Labor Committee and the Labor Subcommittee. The objectives of the seminar were to present the findings and recommendations from the working group’s four-month long discussion to address and protect platform-based workers in accordance with the five principles of Fairwork, brainstorm and exchange concerns and suggestions from the participants, and use the recommendations as a guideline to shape the policy on seeking solutions for platform workers.
Webinar: Women’s Gig Work in Thailand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka
On March 29, Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn, director and founder of JELI was invited to speak as a panelist on The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: Women’s Gig Work in Thailand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka held by The Women, Work, and the Gig Economy consortium. The panelists across Asian countries discussed opportunities and costs to women engaging in gig work, how flexibility plays out in the platform economy, and the impact of COVID-19 on women gig workers.
