Police Disperse Striking Workers

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21/05/2007

Kandal provincial police Monday dispersed a group of striking workers who were demanding management of the River Rich Textile factory allow 10 union representatives return to work.

The workers had been on strike for several days, disrupting traffic and affecting public order, officials said.

The president of the Cambodia Alliance of Democratic Labor Union of Garment Workers, Ath Thun told, VOA Khmer more than 100 police officers dispersed about 200 workers. Several were wounded, he said.

"At about 8 o'clock, the police force and riot police were ordered to come and arrest 10 people, and one of my representatives was brutally chased in front of all my workers," he said. "There were scuffles, and some even fled to rented apartments."

Clashes lasted until noon, he said, when UN representatives arrived and settled the dispute.

"If the owner does not respect [the law] and does something bad, [the police] do not help us, but if we are on strike, they threaten us," Ath Thun said.

Police denied any injuries were incurred, but Kandal First Deputy Police Chief Sau Sothun said the strike had created anarchy that the police needed to deal with.

No one was arrested, Sau Sothun said, but three worker representatives had been summoned to the court for questioning.

Union members want to burn down clothes bearing the labels Zara and H&M

Customers shop in the newly opened H&M shop in Shanghai April 12, 2007. (Photo: Reuters)

Friday, May 18, 2007
By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial translation from French by Tola Ek

Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in English

Challenge between the workers and the management at the River Rich factory over layoffs.

Members of the CCAWDU (Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Worker Democrat Union) prepare to burn down this morning in front of the River Rich factory, clothes made for the Zara, H&M and Inditex SA labels. The union wants to take this action to attract the attention of these major label companies on the plight of their colleagues who were laid off. During this occasion, At Thun, CCAWDU President, indicates in a communiqué that he will hold a press conference to remind about the fate of the 30 union members laid off by the factory in 2006.

Among those laid off, 10 of them still uphold their complaint to the court, but 20 others have dropped their cases in exchange for a sum of money proposed by the factory owner. At Thun will also talk about the violations of the work code perpetrated by the Chinese owner of this factory, located in the Kandal province, about 20 kilometers from Phnom Penh. He hopes that this spectacular action will have an impact on the large companies such as Zara and H&M, and also on the behavior of the River Rich owner.