A local NGO was denied monthly access to jailed NagaWorld union members, a Lor Peang activist was sent to prison this week, and Cambodia reversed its insistence on Myanmar’s attendance at a Asean foreign ministers meeting this month.
Striking NagaWorld workers pushed back at the casino company’s position that losses in the first half of 2021 justified mass layoffs, pointing to the three years of profits preceding the pandemic-induced slowdown and the ongoing construction of NagaWorld 3.
Small pockets of support for striking NagaWorld workers are emerging: at the Angkor Beer factory in Sihanoukville, Coca-Cola factory in Phnom Penh, and 27 Caltex gas stations, and among unionists in Malaysia.
In a rare public statement amid ongoing protests, NagaWorld denied accusations that it targeted union employees as part of mass layoffs last year that have led to a monthlong strike by casino workers and the arrests of senior union leaders and members.
International labor groups criticized NagaWorld’s “long-standing failure” to respect workers’ rights and authorities’ “undue interference” of a legitimate strike, as one representative said the groups would bring the dispute before the ILO and Asean, and affiliated workers overseas would also look to exert pressure.
Som Sophea witnessed NagaWorld grow from a cruise ship to a sprawling casino complex. The company recognized her for two decades of service, but fired her during year 26. One month into a labor strike, Sophea says she wants respect for longtime employees.
NagaWorld workers started submitting petitions to embassies, asking 14 foreign delegations to monitor rallies and raise the labor dispute and unionists’ arrests to high-level Cambodian officials, as participants say they’re experiencing strike fatigue.
Active employees of NagaWorld on strike are getting phone calls from the casino asking them to return to work. Audio recordings of the calls heard by VOD reporters have casino management calling it the “last call.”
NagaWorld union members admonished the Labor Ministry during an impromptu press conference on Monday, accusing labor officials for disregarding calls to release jailed union leadership as a precondition to restart negotiations.
Even with top union leadership imprisoned on incitement charges, the NagaWorld labor strikers who continued their protest this week have shown no signs of backing down. Part of that comes down to basic scheduling.
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