Unions Threaten May Day March Despite Ban

May Day parade in 2010 (Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 28 April 2011

“This is a worry and a threat by the government to the freedom of assembly and expression of the Cambodian people.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a circular on Thursday banning workers from assembling on International Labor Day, May 1, but a coalition of unions says it will go ahead with plans.

The missive comes after the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union announced plans to gather some 3,000 laborers in Phnom Penh to mark the day.

Ath Thon, president of the coalition, said he plans to gather the workers in a march nevertheless.

“This circular shows a tightening on the rights to assembly and march, but up to now, our working group will follow the plan without changing,” he said. “Our assembly will not affect security and public order. The authorities have the ability to protect security and public order. I think the government should not worry about this.”

The march is scheduled to start in front of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, near Wat Phnom, and pass by the Royal Palace and National Assembly, where workers will bring a petition for better working rights and conditions.

Argument between police and workers during May Day

Report by Sek Bandith, RFA
Video by Uon Chhin

Film screening blocked

Workers march along Sisowath Quay on Saturday as part of Labour Day demonstrations. More than 7,000 people marched in the capital, union leaders said. (Photo by: Sovan Philong)

Monday, 03 May 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Police stop Labour Day showing of documentary on slain unionist Chea Vichea

POLICE and municipal officials stepped in to ban a screening of a documentary about slain labour leader Chea Vichea on Saturday, forcibly removing projector screens set up by organisers outside Wat Lanka in central Phnom Penh.

Several dozen police officers arrived at around 5pm at the Chamkarmon district site – just metres from where Chea Vichea was shot and killed in 2004 – to meet representatives of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and others who had gathered for the screening. On two occasions, organisers attempted to raise projector screens before police pulled them down and confiscated them after brief struggles.

Amid a crush of journalists and onlookers, Chamkarmon deputy governor Chor Kimsor told CCU president Rong Chhun that the event could not go forward without permission from municipal authorities.

“If you have permission to show the film, I would allow the film to be shown. If you are barehanded, I will not allow,” Chor Kimsor said. “If you respect law enforcement and democracy, you must consider the law above all else.”

Rong Chhun met with officials at City Hall on Thursday in an attempt to secure permission for the screening. The municipality’s deputy chief of cabinet, Koeut Chhe, told him he could not show the film without securing the approval of “relevant” government ministries.

The CCU president said following the meeting, however, that he did not have time to consult with officials at the ministerial level prior to the scheduled screening, organised to mark the Kingdom’s Labour Day holiday.

Rong Chhun told reporters on Saturday that with the murder of Chea Vichea still unresolved, it was the government – not the CCU – that had demonstrated a lack of respect for the rule of law.

“We have seen murders continuously, but we have not seen the real killers arrested and punished. That’s why we wanted to do this on May 1, at the spot where Chea Vichea was shot and killed,” Rong Chhun said. He condemned the decision to break up the event.

“We regret and condemn the authorities’ action. If the authorities acted like this, it means that some officials could have been involved in Chea Vichea’s murder.”

The film that was scheduled to be shown was Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a documentary directed by American Bradley Cox that investigates the union leader’s killing and the controversial prosecution of two men accused of the crime.

Those two men – Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – were found guilty of Chea Vichea’s murder in 2005 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. They are widely believed to have been framed, however, and the Supreme Court ordered their release from prison last year pending a new trial.

Cox wrote in an email that given the film’s criticisms of Cambodian law enforcement, he was “not surprised” that its screening had not been approved.

“I would encourage Cambodian government officials to practice what they preach,” he said.

“They speak loftily about democracy and freedom of speech when courting foreign nations for millions in economic aid. But when that same government is criticized, they resort to edicts, proclamations and instant arbitrary rulings, the very stuff of dictatorships.”

The confrontation with police came after thousands of workers marched through the streets of the capital on Saturday morning to commemorate the Labour Day holiday. Organisers said around 7,000 people joined a march led by the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC), while Rong Chhun and Chea Mony, who succeeded his brother as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, led a separate march of around 300 people.

CLC president Ath Thun said that although the marches were organised separately, “the aims are the same”. The CLC delivered a petition to the National Assembly on Saturday, asking parliamentarians to increase the minimum wage for workers in a number of sectors.

The CCU march was briefly obstructed by police before Chea Mony played a tape recording of a speech made last week by Prime Minister Hun Sen in which the premier said he had no objection to legal demonstrations.

Although the CCU’s efforts to screen the Chea Vichea documentary were ultimately thwarted, SRP parliamentarian Mu Sochua said her party planned to host a public screening of the film at its headquarters this week.

Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Press and Quick Reaction Unit at the Council of Ministers, said that if the opposition and civil society organisations really want to help solve the Chea Vichea case, they should cooperate with the government and send a copy of the film to the Ministry of Interior.

“We must not violate the law and blame the government,” he said.

Garment workforce to rally for wage hike

April 29, 2010 (Cambodia)
Fibre2Fashion

On International Labour Day i.e. on May 1, around 7,000 workers from six labour unions intend to file a petition, by staging a rally, to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, demanding the top legislative bodies to increase payment of workers in the garment trade and tourism sectors.

While, the Prime Minister, Hun Sen has warned workers to avoid demonstrations, the rally has already been scheduled to commence from Wat Phnom to the National Assembly.

According to Ath Thun, the President of Cambodian Labour Confederation, organizations such as the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers Democratic Union and the Cambodian Tourism and Service Sector Federation will partake in the rally.

These organizations have demanded from the assembly, an increase in the minimum wages, a national social security fund and pensions, extension of work contracts by employers, and permission to allow workers’ associations to operate for free, without any interference.

The petition that will be submitted to the National Assembly on May 1, includes the demand of monthly wage improvement of garment workers to US $93, from the current minimum wage of $50 as a priority, that the government has to consider at the earliest possible.

Thun also said that, the workers will be reluctant to work creatively and dedicatedly if their demands are not met with, by the government.

Workers March in May Day Demonstration

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 May 2009

Thousands of garment factory workers took to the streets in Phnom Penh Friday, marking May Day with a set of demands for better pay and conditions for the government.

Hundreds of police were deployed to maintain security, as workers marched with placards demanding higher wages, the establishment of a labor court and a halt to discrimination against free trade.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said the goal of the march was to encourage the National Assembly to accept a petition with suggestions from improving conditions for laborers.

“I hope the Cambodian government will receive our petition of workers and consider our demands, because the garment sector is important in helping Cambodia’s economy,” he said.

Garment exports are one of Cambodia’s main earners, but the sector has been hit hard by the global financial crisis, as orders for goods from the US and other markets have slowed.

Tens of thousands of workers have been laid off since the onset of the crisis in September 2008, with some factories closing their doors or reducing their staff.

Art Thun, president of the Cambodian Laborer Confederation, said Friday the country needs to improve the conditions for workers, who are usually abused by garment factory owners.

Workers on Friday urged the government to “very quickly” put in place an arbitration court to handle labor conflicts. They also want the government to force garment factories to keep a deposit in the bank to prevent bankruptcy.

1,000 Cambodians rally

May 1, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - MORE than 1,000 Cambodian workers on Friday marched through the capital to demand better wages and conditions and a halt to violence against unionists as they marked international labour day.

The group of mostly textile and hotel workers, carrying colourful banners and Cambodian flags, marched from a park near the royal palace to the parliament, where they handed a petition to political opposition leaders.

'The government has to listen to our requests,' said Chea Mony, head of Cambodia's largest workers' group, the Cambodian Free Trade Union.

'It has to take care of the workers because they help bring billions of dollars to the government,' he said.

The workers later marched to the place where Chea Vichea, who headed the country's largest labour union and was a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, was gunned down in January 2004.

The daylight murder was condemned by rights groups as a brutal attempt to silence opposition-linked unions and two men jailed over the killing were later released and a retrial has not yet been scheduled.

Demonstrators shouted their demands through loudspeakers - the establishment of a labour court, a monthly 120-dollar minimum wage, fair treatment and a reduction in working hours from 48 hours to 44 hours per week.

Garment exports from the impoverished country have dropped sharply amid the global economic downturn and tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs this year.

Hotel workers are also suffering from lower tourism revenues after foreign tourist arrivals in Cambodia dropped by 2.19 per cent in January compared with the same period last year.