Union members ‘dismissed’

Friday, 23 September 2011
Tep Nimol
The Phnom Penh Post

A garment factory hit by two mass fainting incidents last month has been accused of trying to get rid of workers who subsequently joined the Free Trade Union to push for better working conditions at the facility in Kampong Chhnang province.

FTU president Chea Mony wrote to the Ministry of Labour on Wednesday alleging that 20 employees at the factory who had joined the union were told on Monday that their contracts were expiring at the end of this month. They had joined the union after managers failed to improve working conditions following the fainting incidents, he said.

“The company is firing the workers by claiming they had reached the end of their contracts, but they have actually worked at the company for more than three years so they cannot be considered fixed-contract employees,” Chea Mony said.

FTU's complaint against the M&V4 factory for unexplained firing of union representatives

http://www.box.net/shared/ymyp6ykmvn7io1675pbr

Some Workers Continue Strike Over Fired Unionists

An estimated 30,000 workers went on strike last week, demanding more negotiations over salaries they say are too high for the increased cost of living. (Photo: Heng Reaksmey VOA, Khmer)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 20 September 2010

“I'm striking for 19 labor representatives whom the owner did not allow back to work.”

Workers from at least three factories continued to demonstrate on Monday, demanding that union representatives be allowed back to work following last week's general strike.

The workers demonstrated against an order from Kandal provincial court that barred 54 representatives from returning to work at the River Rich, Goldfame Enterprise and Winner garment factories, following a general strike last week that ended Thursday.

The labor leaders are barred from working while the court considers a suit against them by the three factories claiming last week's strikes were illegal.

“I'm striking for 19 labor representatives whom the owner did not allow back to work,” said Uch Sam Ath, a demonstrator, in front of his Goldfame factory in Sa'an district. He estimated some 5,000 of 8,000 workers were on strike, but that number was impossible to verify Monday.

An estimated 30,000 workers went on strike last week, demanding more negotiations over salaries they say are too high for the increased cost of living. The strike cost factories millions of dollars in revenues and led to lawsuits filed alleging the strikes were illegal.

The strikes ended after a brokered agreement for more negotiations later this month.

“We want our labor representatives to return to work, because they are good representatives in defending our labor rights,” said striking worker Sok Rath, outside the Winner factory.

“We're not going to work, because we haven't seen our labor representatives at work,” said Phan Sopha, at River Rich Textile.

Court officials said the leaders were barred from work under court procedures.

Chea Chi Chay, administrative chief for Winner, said the company wanted the representatives to have their day in court, but was requesting “others to go to work as normal and not affect the interests of the workers and the company.”

Ath Thun, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said the court was increasing pressure and threats ahead of the upcoming talks.

“The court order seems to have stirred up more disputes again,” he said.

Cambodia Garment Strike Spotlights on Labor Rights

7/29/2010
By Jose Roy
Toboc.com

The wraith of global meltdown is still resonating in some form or the other in most outsourcing dependent countries. The recent Cambodia garment workers’ strike turns out to be a perfect case in point to the premise.

On Tuesday, the Cambodian police with riot gears thwarted a week-long strike sparked off by the suspension of a union official at a Malaysian-owned garment factory, which produced goods for international brands including Gap, Benetton, Adidas and Puma. It has been reported that the clashes between more than 100 armed police force and 3,000 garment workers in Phnom Penh had resulted in nine women being hurt, though authorities maintain the operations did not hurt anyone.

The BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says the unrest could be a symptom of a wider social malaise owing to dwindling orders in Cambodia's crucial garment industry which resulted in tens of thousands of job losses. Early this month, government increased the minimum wage from about $50 to $60, but the double-digit inflation and the trade unions demands of above $80 seemed to be bogging down the effect.

Albeit the unions retracted from a three-day general strike in protest against the meagre rise, the union official’s suspension is believed to have aggravated the situation. But last week’s Huffington Post report interpreted these strikes as a knee-jerk reaction to irrational calibration of wages by the outsourcing firms or associated agencies.

Interestingly, in last week’s blog by Auret van Heerden, President and CEO of the Fair Labour Association visualizes firms that build strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes into their operations and culture would have the edge in many markets. Nevertheless, evidences show such practices by firms are beyond procurement principles as it solely reckons pricing and related aspects devoid of labour rights - especially post-meltdown.

Cambodia’s textile industry accounts for around 85 percent of exports, and is the country’s third-largest source of income after tourism and agriculture. The Southeast Asian state continues to be in the grip of labour problems particularly after the global economic crisis that bombed exports severely to create an economic landscape of joblessness - and desertion of production units by the employers.

SRP comdemns violence against workers

29 July 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Yesterday, the opposition SRP party condemns the use of violence by the cops to put down a demonstration held on Tuesday by workers at the PCCS factory located in Sen Sok district. The SRP indicated that peaceful means should be used to resolve the dispute between the workers and the factory management. On Tuesday, about 50 cops armed with shields, electric batons and guns descended into the PCCS factory and used their electric batons to shock about 300 workers to force them to get back to work. The workers had been holding a peaceful demonstration for the past 7 days to demand that the factory owner reinstates back their representatives who were fired. During the breakup of the workers, the cops pushed several workers to the ground and used their electric batons to shock them, making about 10 injuries. The SRP stated that “the use of violence on women workers is a serious violation of human rights and freedom of expression which is guaranteed by the Cambodian Constitution and the law on peaceful demonstration.” The SRP statement added: “Once again, the SRP condemns the use of violence against factory workers.”

Cambodian strike unlinked to wage dispute

28 July 2010
By Ngo Tuan Just-Style

This week's garment worker clashes in Cambodia were caused by internal frictions rather than wage demands, a local manufacturing body told just-style.

Around 100 policemen armed with electric batons and riot shields clashed with some 3,000 - mostly female - workers who were on strike against the suspension of a local union official working at their factory.

Ken Loo, Secretary General of Garment Manufacturer's Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said there was no relation between the local Free Trade Union’s threat of national strike and the strike at the Malaysian-owned factory, in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, yesterday (27 July).

"This strike is totally unrelated to the minimum wage issue," he said. "It is a dispute within the factory."

A union official named Mon Chana was dismissed for unknown reasons. Nine workers were initially reported injured in the clashes but this remains unconfirmed.

"About the workers being injured, I do not have confirmation as to whether workers were actually injured or not," Ken Loon added.

The Cambodian factory, called Berry Apparel (Cambodia) Co, produces apparel products for Western brands including Adidas, Gap, Puma and Benetton.

Like the regime dictator, Hun Xen's cops like to use violence against women workers

Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. The placard (C) reads: "We all garment workers demand our representative to be back to work". REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. The placard reads: "Ty, the factory administrator, gave us permission to hold the strike inside the PCCS factory compound". REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest at their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh while a security personnel stands guard, July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Riot police try to force workers of PCCS Garments Ltd, who were protesting against the suspension of a local union official, back into their factory in Phnom Penh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with Cambodian riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end the week-long strike. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Workers of PCCS Garments Ltd protest outside their factory in Phnom Phenh July 27, 2010. At least nine female garment workers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with riot police who used shields and electric shock batons to try to end a week-long strike over the suspension of a local union official. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Union to march for workers rights

Monday, 30 March 2009
Written by Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

THE Free Trade Union has announced it will hold a peaceful rally in Phnom Penh to demand the fair and legal treatment of recently fired garment workers. But union President Chea Mony said a date for the rally has not yet been set, registering concerns riot police will be called out to prevent the workers from gathering.

"Our rally aims to call on the government to enforce the law and for garment factory employers to treat all workers fairly," he said. "We do not know how many garment workers will participate in the rally, but we know that the there will be more than a few."

Chea Mony said that 17 representatives of the Free Trade Union were suspended from their job in September last year without proper cause, and that another 139 workers were fired between 2004 and 2008 without compensation.

"We found that there was discrimination against representatives in several garment factories, and the employers suspended our representatives because they want to cover up their abuse of the rights of workers in their factory," he added.

National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said Sunday that he was unaware about the union's plans to hold a rally.

"They can hold a rally, but they have to get permission from the municipal authorities," he said.

Chea Mony calls for a nationwide demonstration

Chea Mony, FTUWKC President (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

Thursday, March 26, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) called for a demonstration to protest the firing of union representatives in a number of factories. Chea Mony told reporters in the morning of 25 March that Cambodia, just like any other countries in the world, is facing with financial crisis, Cambodian factories have closed their door one after another, and some factories were firing workers for no justified reason. He added that, up until now, 19 representatives of the workers who are also union representatives were fired, and their firing did not respect the labor law rules. He claimed that he will lead a mass strike in the entire country in order to protest the firing of union representatives. Chea Mony did not indicate the exact date of this demonstration yet, but he indicated that it will be held soon. Regarding this planned demonstration, the Kampuchea Thmei newspaper said that it could not contact Touch Naroth, the Phom Penh police commissioner, to obtain his reaction because nobody picked up his phone.