UPDATED 10:07 a.m. — More than 250 Covid-19 cases were found at a Meanchey district garment factory, Phnom Penh City Hall announced late Friday, as workers spoke of fears and alleged delayed action.
Garment workers who aren’t vaccinated for Covid-19 could eventually be barred from factories and lose their jobs, Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour said on Wednesday.
A Kampong Chhnang shoe factory is threatening workers’ jobs as they try to unionize, the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions and its local representative said.
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.
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