Thailand: Training on social dialogue for decent work and human rights due diligence in the automotive sector

© Noppavut Pravat, ILO

The RISSC project in Thailand has set about developing a practical industry-facing toolkit to support improvements to bipartite social dialogue at the workplace level: Driving Industry Dialogue (DID) – Social Dialogue for Decent Work and Human Rights Due Diligence in the Thai Automotive Sector. The toolkit, which aligns with national laws, international standards, and emerging supply chain requirements, will be primarily aimed at enterprise-level employer and worker representatives. The toolkit will comprise 3 main elements: (1) a set of comprehensive guidelines, (2) an interactive training programme, and (3) a follow-up mentoring/advisory service for partner companies.

The guidelines form the basis of the toolkit. They outline the importance and application of social dialogue in the context of the automotive sector, as well as the ways manufacturing companies can put dialogue into action in the workplace to strengthen decent work, industrial relations and support responsible business conduct (including HRDD). 

To help companies apply the guidelines in practice (and hence, apply social dialogue at the workplace level), the ILO is now convening company-level personnel for a 2-day training programme, the key objectives of which are outlined below:

• To raise mutual understanding of social dialogue for Thai automotive supply chain actors
• To inform participants of their active roles in utilising social dialogue mechanisms in their workplaces 
• To identify the positive linkage among social dialogue, decent work, and responsible business practices, including the preparation for HRDD requirements  
• To train the company-level trainers on how to effectively apply social dialogue into the existing discussion and negotiation platforms in their workplaces