Six unions announced they would boycott Tuesday’s meeting with the Labor Ministry where they were to discuss amendments to the Labor Law, a move that a ministry spokesperson said misunderstood economics and would have no impact.
Thousands of workers took to the streets in multiple protests this week over unpaid wages from suspended factories as well as grievances related to benefits, as the Labor Ministry issued a warning against one unionist alleging an illegal strike and a man was detained while photographing a rally.
The garment sector’s minimum wage will be increased to $192 starting next year, even as hundreds of factories have suspended operations and an estimated 150,000 workers lost their jobs.
With sinking exports and suspended production lines, the garment industry and a labor union continued appeals for help from the government and others this week, respectively renewing calls for a delayed partial withdrawal of trade benefits and quicker processing of worker payouts.
The Labor Ministry this week warned a labor leader and her union that it could be dissolved over her allegedly illegal incitement of workers to protest over a garment factory closure that left workers without contracts and compensation.
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 200 NagaWorld employees demonstrated at the Labor Ministry on Tuesday after Phnom Penh’s sole licensed casino operator stopped offering workers suspension pay while casinos remain closed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nearly all of the former employees of the closed Great Duke Hotel in Phnom Penh have received owed compensation distributed by the Labor Ministry as of Monday, but an official declined to clarify the source of the payouts.
Former employees of the shuttered Great Duke Hotel again protested in front of the building on Thursday, calling for awarded compensation from the Phnom Penh hotel’s owner or legal action from the Labor Ministry.
The owner of the closed Great Duke Hotel in Phnom Penh has until Friday to settle a monthslong dispute with former employees, a Labor Ministry official said after the ex-staff resumed protests this week and were earlier awarded compensation by arbiters.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
