NagaCorp, the Hong Kong-listed parent company of Phnom Penh’s exclusive-operating casino NagaWorld, reported losses for the first time since the company was publicly listed, amid the pandemic and an ongoing labor dispute with more than 300 laid-off employees.
In a move a labor group said was unprecedented, NagaWorld is calling on governmental labor inspectors to authorize the dismissal of a group of union leaders as part of the casino’s mass layoffs, overriding the legal protections unionists enjoy unless they have committed serious offenses, a workers’ representative said.
NagaWorld union representatives met with the Labor Ministry on Monday as the workers accuse the Phnom Penh casino of trying to destroy the union through mass layoffs targeting top labor leaders and those active in support.
NagaWorld earned $102.3 million in net profit last year despite the pandemic and expects a rosier outlook in 2021, according to its latest annual report, though a union leader said workers are concerned about whether they can keep their jobs or receive financial assistance during the pandemic.
Hundreds of workers crowded outside Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino as many returned for their second Covid-19 tests following the discovery of several cases there, a workers’ boycott and the suspension of operations last week.
After NagaWorld workers began a work boycott over the weekend about employees being kept in the dark about Covid-19 cases at the casino, its owner NagaCorp announced it would act “responsibly and swiftly to volunteer to temporarily suspend its business.”
Unesco expressed concern over the impact of NagaCorp’s resort project just south of the Angkor Archaeological Park area in Siem Reap province.
The Malaysian billionaire owner of the NagaWorld casinos received Cambodian citizenship in October, according to official documents, opening an opportunity for the tycoon to become a sole owner of land in the country.
The path for casino operator NagaCorp’s newly announced theme park near Angkor temple grounds was cleared five years ago when Prime Minister Hun Sen personally intervened to resolve a land dispute involving about 1,000 families.
Just 500 meters from Angkor temple park grounds, casino operator NagaCorp has proposed a giant 75-hectare resort with theme parks, a “China Town” and hotels that the company compares to Disneyland.
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