More than 700 out of 5,000 workers at a Phnom Penh garment factory have been tested after a single Covid-19 case was found among employees, but work continues in eight of nine buildings and crowds keep packing the factory grounds during breaks.
Garments exports dropped 9 percent last year, the manufacturers association estimated this week, amid a brutal year for the industry in which the Labor Ministry says more than 70,000 jobs were lost.
The Kandal Provincial Court said two factories’ assets would be auctioned, as workers have camped outside the factories every night seeking compensation amid a labor dispute that has been ongoing for a year.
Workers at the Dignity Knitter garment factory, embroiled in a labor dispute for 11 months, say they will reconvene in 10 days after the Kandal provincial governor visited and asked that they give the courts more time to process their employer’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Veteran garment workers have kept up a 24/7 rotating vigil outside the Dignity Knitter and Eco Base factories since before they shut in April. This week, ex-employees said they were still hoping for a payout, but until a court decision they were stuck with nowhere to go.
Residents in Phnom Penh’s flooded Dangkao district say they are running out of options as food prices rise and bills arrive, but the incomes of thousands in the community have been disrupted after floodwaters halted production at the neighborhood’s main employer.
About 16,000 factory workers are currently unable to go to work due to flooding in Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kandal and Takeo, the Labor Ministry said on Wednesday, with an economist warning of a hit to the economy and rising prices due to the recent extreme weather.
The Kandal provincial governor on Monday vowed to find a solution for workers of the Dignity Knitter and Eco Base garment factories after hundreds of workers marched to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Takhmao home to protest the factories’ failure to compensate out-of-work employees.
Employees of the New Best Global Textile factory in Kampong Speu province urged the Labor Ministry on Monday to compel the company to compensate workers as they said the factory building’s owner had already rented out the property.
About 100 fired garment workers have been guarding their closed factory in shifts since mid-January. They aim to ensure the owner does not sell equipment left inside and disappear with the money before paying workers what they are owed by the end of May.
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered border authorities to send new arrivals coming in through land borders straight to their home provinces to quarantine if they aren’t showing symptoms, as one border province said it was struggling to feed the thousands of people in quarantine while returnees increased.
Updated: 32 New Covid-19 Cases Linked to 4 Who Left… Feb 20, 11:30 am 
Updated: One Covid-19 Patient at Large, Another… Feb 23, 9:00 am 
Naga Workers Boycott Amid ‘Irregular’ Covid-19… Mar 1, 3:17 pm 
Dismissed Drug, Poor Care? Concerns Raised After… Mar 6, 7:42 pm 
Phnom Penh Hospitals at Capacity for Covid-19… Feb 24, 6:19 pm 
VOD is a local independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
