Sanitation workers say they never got the employment and benefits promised to them when they went on strike in 2020. Their union has since been crushed, with at least one trash companies admitting it will not hire unionists.
Meanchey and Chamkarmon districts have started cleaning sewage systems last week, days after environmental activists identified seven locations in three districts where trash had clogged these canals.
Two trash collectors have died and another seriously injured in a traffic incident as workers and family spoke of Phnom Penh’s new waste management companies putting them on unfamiliar shifts, not providing equipment and lacking union representation.
Following years of complaints about poor service, Cintri was put under state management in 2019, and as of July its work split up among three companies. Promises to keep all employees on the payroll were broken when 1,176 workers were terminated as of July 1.
Union activists say hundreds of laid-off Cintri workers still haven’t received new jobs, violating a promise from Phnom Penh City Hall, as the beleaguered trash collection company disposed of more than 1,000 workers amid a transition for the city’s waste management.
A trash collectors union said its members could be facing unemployment as Phnom Penh began its new collection regime on Thursday, splitting former sole-operator Cintri’s jurisdiction into three areas.
Singaporean and Chinese companies will handle two of three trash collection zones in Phnom Penh under the city’s long-awaited restructuring of waste management, while Cintri will continue to service central and southern city areas, company representatives said.
More than 2,000 sanitation workers in Phnom Penh ended their strike and returned to work on Wednesday afternoon after City Hall and their employer promised to pay them as demanded in February.
Garbage collection workers remain on strike despite a union urging them to accept a deal from City Hall, with the workers saying they want to see payments not promises.
Amid a week-long strike by Phnom Penh sanitation workers, VOD speaks to several union members about the demands of the job, and why they remain committed to the hazardous work of keeping the capital clean.
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