The State Railway of Thailand's dismissal of seven union leaders amounts to a destruction of the labour union and a gross human rights violation, say labour and human right advocates. Tim De Meyer, a specialist with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said gatherings, negotiations and work stoppages were among the basic rights of workers which all countries that are signatories of the ILO must recognise. He considered the punishment approach taken by the SRT - to dismiss labour union leaders and SRT employees for joining a work stoppage in 2009 in response to a train crash in Prachuap Khiri Khan province in which seven people died - unacceptable.Mr De Meyer, speaking during a seminar at the National Human Rights Commission in Laksi yesterday, insisted the SRT employees had the right to stop work under unsafe conditions. The Central Labour Court earlier ruled in favour of the SRT's decision to dismiss seven leaders of its union who led the work stoppage. It ordered them to pay the authority 15 million baht in compensation for damages resulting from the strike. The leaders have appealed against the ruling. The court found the defendants guilty of inciting other SRT workers to go on strike, disrupting its train services and damaging it financially. The strike stemmed from the SRT's decision to sack a train driver after a panel concluded that the derailment of the train on Oct 5, 2009 in Hua Hin had been caused by human error. The union leaders demanded the SRT improve the condition of its train engines. It claimed safety devices on the engines were not in working order. National Human Rights Commission member Niran Pithakwatchara said the union's strike was aimed at prompting the SRT to improve railway safety, not disrupting train services. The SRT's dismissal of those labour leaders was a grave abuse of their human rights, said the commissioner. Bundit Thanachaisetthawut, of the non-governmental labour organisation, the Arom Pongpangan Foundation, said the court's ruling did not take into account the rights of workers. Sawit Kaewwan, one of the seven union leaders dismissed by the SRT, said the railway authority must put its first priority on safety, not profits. The SRT had ignored repeated calls by the union to address problems. Train engines were mostly in poor condition and many train drivers were overworked, he said.