More than 100 former employees of the bankrupt mobile telephone company Mfone protested outside the firm’s shuttered offices in Phnom Penh yesterday, demanding that they receive salaries for working the month of February despite the company having already gone out of business. …
Mar Samoeun, 64, an administrative worker for Mfone who took part in the protest, said he had been at the company for 19 years and that he and nearly 1,200 staff working in Phnom Penh and in the provinces were asking that Mfone pay them for the month of February.
“I am old now and can not really find another job, so I need my last payment to feed my family,” he said. …
The minister of posts and telecommunications yesterday said he needs more time to investigate corruption and mismanagement allegations at state-owned firm Telecom Cambodia before involving other government institutions.
Telecom Cambodia director-general Lao Saroeun is officially on sick leave, but staff at the company say they were told he has been suspended after they went on strike last week to have him removed. …
Minister [of posts and telecommunications] So Khun met with Telecom Cambodia employees on Friday, but Mr. Khun said yesterday that he had declined to immediately forward the employees’ complaints to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
“We need to question, to clarify the details and look at what documents the Telecom Cambodia staff have to show that Mr. Saroeun is corrupt. I need to question Mr. Saroeun,” Mr. Khun said. …
Telecom Cambodia has been considered a successful state-owned enterprise, and was expected to have listed last year on the Cambodia Securities Exchange. …
The Kandal Provincial Court issued an injunction yesterday against Yung Wah Industrial Co. Ltd., preventing the company from selling assets at its two garment factories in Takhmao City where thousands of workers have been protesting the past two days over unpaid wages. …
Thousands of employees of two Singaporean-owned Yung Wah Industrial (Cambodia) Co.Ltd. factories, which produce shirts for Gap Inc. among other international brands, went on strike yesterday in Kandal province, claiming that they were not paid their salaries for last month.
“Normally, salaries are paid between the 5th to the 10th of each month, but so far nobody has received their salaries,” said Chan Dany, deputy leader of the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (CCAWDU) at the Yung Wah II factory. …
More than 5,000 workers from across seven factories in Svay Rieng province protested yesterday, demanding a doubling of the current minimum wage, a provincial labor official said yesterday. …
The country’s minimum wage sits at $61, and is supplemented by a $5 health benefit and a $7 allowance for housing and transportation. …
More than 1,000 workers protested in front of the soon-to-be-closed Svay Rieng Cambodia Garment factory yesterday to demand better severance benefits, and nearly half of them then marched to the provincial hall to seek help from government officials, workers said yesterday.
Worker representative Pang Tra said that the workers began protesting last Tuesday, after the factory informed them it would close on January 1 because the company had been transferred to a new owner. …
The Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) is distributing 10,000 leaflets to garment workers across Phnom Penh, urging them to join a strike on Sunday, CCU officials said yesterday. “We would like to invite them to join us to demand for an increase if the base salary from $61 to $150,” CCU President Rong Chhun said, adding that he had made a request for the protest to the staged in front of the old National Assembly near Royal Palace. …
More than 400 workers of the Next Apparel (Cambodia) factory in Kandal province protested for a third time Saturday and destroyed property while demanding the reinstatement of two workers fired for attempting to establish a union, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) said yesterday. …
About 10 workers were beaten by police and military police during a protest over severance payments yesterday in Kandal province, workers and union representatives said.
Protests at Tai Yang Enterprises—which supplies clothing to U.S. brands Levi Strauss and Old Navy—in Ang Snuol district have been ongoing since May, when workers learned that the factory had changed its name to Tai Nan and became worried that their severance payments would be lost.
A peaceful march to appeal to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cabinet in Phnom Penh for help on July 11 turned violent when police officers started beating the protesters and badly injured a union representative. …
The Phnom Penh Municipality issued a statement yesterday accusing the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions of violating their agreement when a garment workers’ protest on July 11 turned violent.
Some 20 garment factory workers from the Tai Yang factory had marched to submit a petition to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cabinet, when a union representative was beaten by police. …
Five women from the Boeng Kak lake community met with the U.S. ambassador-at-large for women’s affairs on Saturday in Siem Reap City, asking the U.S. to intervene in their case and put pressure on the Cambodian government to stop violence against women.
Meeting on the sidelines of the U.S.-Asean Business Forum, the women pleaded with Ambassador-at-Large Melanne Verveer for the U.S.’ help reclaiming their land, as well as clearing the names of 13 women convicted of crimes following a protest against the Boeng Kak lake evictions on May 24.
“[Ms. Verveer] was very personally moved by the story and said she is going to personally deliver their petition to [U.S. Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton,” said SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua, who organized and attended the meeting. …
Svay Rieng Provincial Court has summonsed the three female workers wounded during a protest at Kao Ve Garment Factory in Manhattan Special Economic Zone for one more round of questioning before the case against the former Bavet city governor is sent for trial. …
Three union members were beaten by a gang of men during a protest outside a factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district on Friday, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) said.
CCAWDU members Nei Buthoeurn, Chim Khheang and Chan Poeu, were beaten by a gang of 15 men while protesting against the firing of three union representatives last month from the Hai Yon shoe factory in Dangkao district’s Choam Chao commune, CCAWDU Director Ath Thorn said. …
A union representative who was beaten and detained by police during a protest Wednesday was released after being forced to sign a statement taking responsibility for starting a fight with authorities, union officials said yesterday.
A bloodied Rong Panha, a representative of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) —which forms part of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU)—was taken into custody after he and 20 workers of Tai Yang garment factory marched to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house to submit a petition listing their demands.
According to a copy of Mr. Panha’s hand-written confession, the union representative states that he regrets “the scuffle” with the police on Wednesday and promises not to file a complaint. …
About 600,000 workers in the lucrative garment and footwear industries, roughly 95 per cent of the sector’s work force, will soon take home an extra US$10 a month, the Ministry of Labour said yesterday.
Barely an hour after a protest involving garment workers at the capital’s Freedom Park erupted into violence,…the ministry announced at about 11am it had struck a deal with employers to pay workers the bonuses beginning Sept 1.
Minister of Labour Vong Sauth said employees would receive a transport or accommodation bonus of $7 per month and $3 per month on top of their existing attendance bonus.
“First, the employers agreed to provide $9 per month, but on behalf of the government, I asked the employer to add $1 more,” he said. …
A union employee representing striking workers from a factory that supplies Levi’s and Gap was left a bloodied mess near Wat Botum yesterday after police allegedly attacked him.
According to rights groups, police set upon Long Panha, of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), who was among a group of 20 unionists who had marched from a protest in Freedom Park…
About 2,000 workers at a factory supplying clothes to U.S. brands Levi Strauss, Gap and Old Navy were stopped by security forces yesterday as they attempted to march from Kandal province to the Ministry of Labor to protest for severance payments and additional benefits.
Protests at Tai Yang Enterprises in Ang Snuol district have been ongoing since May, when workers learned that the factory had changed its name to Tai Nan and became worried that their severance payments would be lost. Workers are also demanding a total of $30 for transportation and housing fees each month. …
Union leaders yesterday rejected a proposal from Cambodian garment makers to provide US$9 a month for a worker’s housing and transport fees, demanding an additional $1.
The benefits were announced last week after unions said they would lead a large-scale protest…
About 3,000 workers at a factory supplying clothes to U.S. brands Levi Strauss and Old Navy blocked traffic for nearly five hours yesterday on National Road 4 in Kandal province, as part of a protest for more benefits and severance pay, protesters and police said.
Protests at Tai Yang Enterprises in Ang Snuol district have been ongoing since May, when workers learned that the factory had changed its name to Tai Nan and became worried that their severance payments would be lost.
Factory officials have said that the name change would not affect the workers’ payments. Additional demands include $15 each for transportation and housing fees each month. …
