Thursday, June 15, 2006

Misery of Rubber Plantations Workers

14 June, 2006

Misery of Rubber Plantations Workers

Last 10 June, I visited the district of Chamcar Leu in the province of Kompong Cham where I was elected. In this district located about 100 kilometers to the Northeast of Phnom Penh, rubber plantations are extending beyond the eyesight. They employ thousands of workers whom no one knows much about their living and working conditions. If one takes the time to learn more, one will discover that these workers villages disseminated in these plantations form a world apart. Even though I am used to see poverty on Cambodia, I was struck by the misery which prevails in these villages. Children are in larger number than anywhere else. Clearly malnourished, they are skinny and pale looking. The rags they wear do not even cover half of their body. They play and live in the dirt. Most of them have never seen a school.

We are in the Chamcar Andaung commune, the location of the large plantation bearing the same name. It is almost five o’clock in the afternoon. The workday had ended (it starts everyday at 5 AM). A small crowd is gathering at my arrival at Village 33. Since the French colonial time, the workers villages do not have a name but they bear a number indicating the plantation lots in which they are located. The village looks like a small island lost in the middle of a dark ocean of aligned trees extending beyond the eyesight. Here, everybody earn a living from latex (rubber), a milky material secreted from the trunk of the rubber trees (Hevea tree) that are bled at regular intervals according to very precise rules.

In front of her house where a microphone was just installed on a tree,
Phan Ret, a young widow, stands holding her youngest child.
Sam Rainsy (left of Phan Ret) is asking the workers to express themselves.

Devant sa maison où un micro vient d’être installé sur un arbre,
la jeune veuve Phan Ret porte son plus jeune enfant dans les bras.
Sam Rainsy (à gauche de Phan Ret) demande aux ouvriers de s’exprimer.


Attracted by a microphone recently installed for the occasion, the workers, men and women, the majority of them young, came out from their small dilapidated homes, they were preceded by a crowd of noisy children. I spoke in front of Phan Ret’s house, a 20-year-old young worker whose husband, Plech Nol, also a worker, was killed last 14 April by plantation guards for stealing a few kilograms of raw rubber. The widow, a small woman looking like a child, dragged two children with her.

In front of a crowd of children, a young worker describes her working conditions
and the abuses perpetrated by her employer.

Devant une multitude d’enfants,
une jeune ouvrière décrit ses conditions de travail et les abus de son employeur.


Another worker came to the microphone to denounce the same abuses.

Une autre ouvrière prend la parole pour dénoncer les mêmes abus.

I invited the workers to present their problems to the representatives, Mao Munyvann, Thak Lany and myself, who came to meet them. I felt as if hearing stories right out of Emile Zola or Charles Dickens’ books on the workers conditions during the 19th century:

  1. Wretched salary: The word which returns often during the talks is hunger. Each worker receives a fix daily salary of 3,000 riels (US $0.73). There is no weekends nor holidays. One day of absence carries a penalty of 10,000 riels ($2.43) which will be taken out of the salary paid at the end of the month. The fixed monthly salary of 90,000 riels ($21.90), for 30 days of work, must also be used by the workers to purchase their work tools needed for latex collection (bleeding knife, collecting cups, ladder). Besides the fixed salary of 3,000 riels per day, the workers also collect a productivity bonus of up to 1,500 riels ($0.36) per day depending on the amount of rubber collected. In the best case scenario (i.e. for a strong and solid man who is never ill), a worker can only earn 4,500 riels ($1.09) per day at most which is not sufficient to feed a family. They would need two to three times the amount of this earning. This led to the hunger which torments them all the time…
  2. No social protection: A worker who falls from his/her ladder during the bleeding of a tree trunk from several meters above ground, can easily break a leg or the pelvis. He/she must personally bear the entire medical cost from the accident. The victims are mainly women, this can result in dramatic family consequence for these very poor families.
  3. Barbaric treatments: A worker who is accused of selling outside the plantation some pieces of dry rubber to supplement his/her meager salary, is severely punished: he/she is arrested by the plantation guards and beaten; he/she can then be tortured with electricity and confined half naked (a greater humiliation for women) for several days in an iron cage. If he/she does not act quickly enough when summoned by the guards, he/she is shot dead, just like Plech Nol, the husband of Phan Ret. Since the beginning of this year, two workers have been shot dead and another is seriously injured by a bullet. No sanction was given to the guards.
  4. Child labor: To help increase the family income, children usually go with their parents to work. They help their parents reach the daily bonus of 1,500 riels, or they collect small pieces of coagulum (1) for sale for a few pennies a piece. This explains why children are not attending schools, thus perpetuating the cycle of misery. Hunger push these children to steal food in the neighborhood, and they are severely punished when they are caught stealing some bananas in the neighboring farm.
  5. A climate of violence and fear: The workers and their families depend entirely on their employer which manages not only the plantations where they work, but also the villages where they live. Because of the total control, the geographic isolation of the workers, and the feudal mentality which still remains in Cambodia, the rubber plantations form special communities where a climate of violence and fear rules. This climate is maintained by the guards who form a kind of a private militia. These armed guards are terrorizing the workers and their families; they do not hesitate to use torture and they are trigger happy. In addition to the workers who are shot or wounded with bullets (see above), another act of violence took place this year in the same Chamcar Andaung plantation: on 10 January, two women “caught stealing food” were assassinated (2).
  6. Possible lay off at any time: I learnt that in Village 35, all the workers were laid off without warning, without compensation nor any help in finding another job, when the company decided for technical or commercial reasons to cut down all the rubber trees located in the plantation lot where they worked. In this village forgotten by the employer, which I also visited, misery is even more severe than in Village 33.
In these rubber plantations, work consists mainly of bleeding the trees. While leaving the village at dusk, I realize that most of all, it was the workers who are bled.

Sam Rainsy

Notes:

(1) Coagulum: stuck on tree trunks or spread on the ground, these pieces of coagulum (solidified latex) are waste resulting from multiple small losses occurring during the industrial collection and gathering of rubber which was originally liquid.
(2) They were Nay Theng, 32-year-old, and Nay Sokhoeun, 44-year-old. They lived in Village 32. They were sisters. Nay Theng was three month pregnant. They were caught in a banana plantation.


[Cliquez sur le bouton "Click to read more..."
pour la version française]

---------------------------
(French Version)

14 juin 2006

MISERE DES OUVRIERS DES PLANTATIONS DE CAOUTCHOUC

Le 10 juin dernier j’ai visité le district de Chamcar Leu dans la province de Kompong Cham dont je suis un élu. Dans ce district situé à une centaine de kilomètres au nord-est de Phnom Penh, des plantations de caoutchouc s’étendent à perte de vue. Celles-ci emploient des milliers d’ouvriers dont on connaît peu les conditions de vie et de travail. Si l’on prend la peine de s’y intéresser, on découvre que les villages ouvriers disséminés dans ces plantations forment un monde à part. Bien qu’habitué à voir la pauvreté au Cambodge, je suis frappé par la misère qui règne dans ces villages. Les enfants sont encore plus nombreux qu’ailleurs. Visiblement sous-alimentés, ils sont maigres et pâles. Les haillons qu’ils portent ne couvrent que la moitié de leur corps. Ils jouent et vivent dans la poussière. Beaucoup ne connaissent pas l’école.

Nous sommes dans la commune de Chamcar Andaung où se trouve une grande plantation du même nom. Il est presque cinq heures de l’après-midi. La journée de travail est terminée (elle commence chaque jour à cinq heures du matin). Une petite foule se forme à mon arrivée au village 33. Depuis le temps des Français, les villages ouvriers ne portent pas de noms mais des numéros indiquant les lots des plantations où ils se situent. Le village est comme un îlot perdu au milieu d’un océan sombre d’arbres bien alignés jusqu’à l’infini. Ici tout le monde vit du latex, une substance laiteuse secrétée par le tronc de l’arbre à caoutchouc, ou hévéa, que l’on saigne à intervalle régulier selon des règles bien précises.

Attirés par un micro qui vient d’être tout juste installé pour la circonstance, les ouvriers, hommes et femmes, en majorité jeunes, sortent de leurs petites maisons délabrées, précédés par une multitude d’enfants bruyants. Je prends la parole devant la maison de Phan Ret, une jeune ouvrière de vingt ans dont le mari, Plech Nol, ouvrier lui aussi, a été tué le 14 avril dernier par des gardes de la plantation pour avoir volé quelques kilogrammes de caoutchouc sec. La veuve, une femme toute menue qui fait jeune comme un enfant, traîne deux bambins avec elle.

J’invite les ouvriers à exposer leurs problèmes aux députés, Mao Munyvann, Thak Lany et moi, venus à leur rencontre. Je crois entendre des récits sortis tout droit des romans d’Emile Zola ou Charles Dickens relatant la condition ouvrière au 19ème siècle:

  1. Salaire de misère : Le mot qui revient le plus souvent dans les propos est la faim. Chaque ouvrier reçoit un salaire fixe de 3.000 riels (0,73 dollar américain) par jour. Il n’y a ni samedi ni dimanche ni aucun jour férié. Une journée d’absence entraîne une pénalité de 10.000 riels (2,43 dollars) qui sera prélevée sur le salaire versé en fin de mois. Le salaire mensuel fixe de 90.000 riels (21,90 dollars) pour trente jours ouvrés doit servir aussi pour l’ouvrier à se procurer les instruments de travail nécessaires pour la collecte du latex (couteau de saignée, récipients, échelle). A côté du salaire fixe de 3.000 riels par jour, les ouvriers perçoivent une prime au rendement qui s’élève au maximum à 1.500 riels (0,36 dollar) par jour selon la quantité de latex collectée. Dans le meilleur des cas (homme fort, solide et jamais malade), un ouvrier ne peut donc gagner que 4.500 riels (1,09 dollar) par jour au maximum, ce qui est insuffisant pour nourrir une famille. Il en faudrait deux à trois fois plus. D’où cette faim qui vous tourmente tout le temps...
  2. Aucune protection sociale : Un ouvrier qui tombe malencontreusement de son échelle alors qu’il était en train de saigner le tronc d’un arbre à plusieurs mètres au-dessus du sol, peut se casser facilement une jambe ou le bassin. Il doit alors supporter entièrement lui-même les frais médicaux résultant de l’accident. Les victimes sont le plus souvent des femmes, ce qui peut avoir des conséquences familiales dramatiques dans ces familles très pauvres.
  3. Punitions barbares : Un ouvrier accusé de chercher à revendre à l’extérieur de la plantation, pour suppléer à son maigre salaire, quelques morceaux de caoutchouc sec est sévèrement puni : il est arrêté par les gardes de la plantation et roué de coups; il peut être ensuite torturé à l’électricité ou enfermé à demi nu (une humiliation de plus quand il s’agit d’une femme) pendant plusieurs jours dans une cage en fer. S’il ne répond pas assez vite aux sommations des gardes qui tentent de l’arrêter, il est abattu comme Plech Nol, le mari de Phan Ret. Depuis le début de cette année, deux ouvriers ont été abattus et un autre grièvement blessé par balles. Aucune sanction n’a été retenue contre les gardes.
  4. Travail des enfants : Pour aider à accroître le revenu de la famille, les enfants accompagnent souvent leurs parents au travail. Ils les aident à atteindre la prime journalière maximale de 1.500 riels, ou bien encore ils ramassent de petits morceaux de coagulum (1) qui peuvent être revendus pour quelques sous. Ceci explique pourquoi beaucoup d’enfants doivent délaisser l’école, perpétuant ainsi le cycle de la misère. La faim pousse aussi des enfants à voler de la nourriture dans le voisinage; ils sont sévèrement punis lorsqu’ils sont surpris en train de dérober quelques bananes dans un champ voisin.
  5. Climat de peur et de violence : Les ouvriers et leurs familles dépendent entièrement de leur employeur qui gère non seulement les plantations où ils travaillent mais aussi les villages où ils vivent. A cause de ce contrôle total, de l'isolement géographique des ouvriers et d’une mentalité féodale qui subsiste au Cambodge, les plantations d’hévéas forment des communautés spéciales où règne un climat de peur et de violence. Ce climat est entretenu par les gardes qui forment une sorte de milice privée. Ces gardes armés terrorisent les ouvriers et leurs familles; ils n’hésitent pas à utiliser la torture et ont la gâchette facile. En plus des ouvriers abattus ou blessés par balles (voir plus haut), un autre acte de violence s’est déroulé cette année dans la même plantation de Chamcar Andaung : le 10 janvier, deux femmes “en train de voler de la nourriture” ont été assassinées (2).
  6. Licenciement possible à tout moment : J’apprends qu’au village 35 tous les ouvriers ont été renvoyés du jour au lendemain, sans aucune indemnité ni aide quelconque pour trouver un autre emploi, quand leur société a décidé, pour des raisons techniques ou commerciales, de couper tous les arbres à caoutchouc se trouvant dans le lot correspondant de la plantation où ils travaillaient. Dans ce village que l’employeur a oublié et que j’ai aussi visité, la misère est encore plus grande qu’au village 33.

Dans les plantations d'hévéas, le travail consiste essentiellement à saigner les arbres. En quittant ces plantations à la tombée de la nuit, je me rends compte qu’avant tout, ce sont les ouvriers que l’on saigne.

Sam Rainsy

___________________
(1) Collés au tronc des arbres ou éparpillés par terre, ces morceaux de coagulum (latex solidifié) sont des déchets qui proviennent des multiples petites pertes subies lors de la collecte et du ramassage industriels du latex originellement liquide.

(2) Il s’agit de Nay Theng, 32 ans, et Nay Sokhoeun, 44 ans. Elles habitaient le village 32. Elles étaient soeurs et Nay Theng étaient enceinte de trois mois. Elles ont été surprises dans une plantation de bananes.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

God damn! Too many half naked Cambodian people and I thought I was looking at the STONE AGE PEOPLE! Is this too much of Viet influence or what? Cambodian people are being reduce to Jungle people!

So much for the help from the Jap, World Bank, Asian Develop Bank, European aid...and all the foreign investments in the garment and tourism and this should be an eye opener for all Cambodian people!

The more business Cambodia has the poorer Cambodian will be! It just doesn't make sense! Cambodian people are becoming economic slaves!

Anonymous said...

It is very sad to see this very disturbing news. It is really a failing society. The Hun Sen government have distributing illegally all rubbers plantations to all his freind and his entourages to suppress people who lived there. They deserve to have the same condition of work as much as like people in other fields. THe employers need to build good housing for them, school, healthcare system, work contract with holidays, parental leaves, sick pay etc... Now since the employers have exploited for so far, the employers must force to pay back all their short pay. I wonder why these buddhism employers have chosen to exploited their own people like that? What a mafia state?

Anonymous said...

It proves that Cambodia government has no good governance, and government itself does corruption

Cambodia has No corruption laws to punish corrupt cambodian officials included Prime minister

Anonymous said...

Hope this shit ain't true...

Anonymous said...

This what happen when we allow the blind leadership control the country. I think, Hun Sen must know better than that because he came from that region, he should open his eyes widely. But he can't because his brother own all of those workers, all of rubbers plant own by his family. Anyone speaks up will be executed. God has mercy on them at least give all of the children an opportunity to get their education or open a health clinic that provide them medicine. No, they don't want to give them anything, they are afraid when one of this child got well educate, it will change a lot of thing. Asshole Hun Sen and his entourages.

Anonymous said...

Here the website that all the Cambodians are concerned.
CAMBODIA BORDER'COMMITTEE
http://wms.cfcambodge.org
HUNSEN IS NOT BLIND. He leaves Cambodians to be in the dark (like POL POT). so that he can run the country as he wants.
What do you think about the 4 or 5 millions yuons in our land? what we have to do? Should we accept the Khmer Krom and Champa fate?

Anonymous said...

I see poorer Cambodians than this at Kampong Chnang, crose the river and pass Phnom Neang Kangrey

Anonymous said...

HUN SEN is blind in one eye only.
And in the Country of the Blind, One-eye man is a king.

Wonder if HUN SEN is deaf in one ear. No Doubt He always turns his blind eye and deaf ear to the reality.

No Reason to vote for him again in the next election.

Anonymous said...

What would and how will SRP or any other political party for that matter do, to win the next election now that there are more than 4 millions of AH YUON and MEE YUON KATOP already in Cambodia???Will all of those AH YUON and MEE YUON KATOP vote for SRP and not HUN SEN???

AKnijaKhmer

P.s. Mr. Kenneth So will have to forgive me for I am using those terms YUON KATOP as he has publicly advised against it.
As for the CASH COW, Dr. Trudy Jacobsen, please be advised that the word YUON alone is not pejorative.

Note: CASH COW - The expression is a metaphor for a dairy cow, which after being acquired can be milked on an ongoing basis with little expense.

Anonymous said...

I am worried that Samrainsiparty will join Hunsen for the next election, he wins or not.
It will be the big desaster for our country.

Anonymous said...

Nature will clean itself, let the bads joint together, so we can clean them once and for all!

Anonymous said...

This men "Hung Xen" wants to be lord and master to us poor and weak Cambodian forever and ever...and may be even after he die..He can think of doing anything else different. Some chemical in his brain is in a repeating mode.

He needs powerful drug to redirect it. We need you like we need a decease Hung Xen!

Do us a favor, take your family, your cronies and OH! those money! and go to Vietnam!!!! Please stay there and don't ever come back! It's your fine mistress, buddy!!

Anonymous said...

Somebody needs to slip a mercury in his drink!

Anonymous said...

La religion - bouddhique en particulier avec l'exemple du Cambodge et de la Birmanie - serait-elle l'opium qui rend passif le peuple ?

Avec une religion moins fataliste, les dictateurs et leurs nervis ourraient-ils rester impunis aussi longtemps ?

Anonymous said...

Moi je me demande la meme question. Merci.