NagaWorld protesters are not permitted to rally in public spaces, City Hall said on Tuesday, urging them to gather at a park in the city’s outskirts when workers clear Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements.
Though quarantine NagaWorld union workers say PCR test results trickled in this week, one told VOD he had received conflicting information about his infection status.
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.
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.
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.”
UPDATED 6:03 p.m. — Just before 4 p.m., Chhim Sithar was arrested by police officers on National Assembly Road, outside the Australian Embassy, as she entered barricades cordoning off the workers’ rally.
Authorities arrested a ninth NagaWorld union members late Friday, with authorities and armed security personnel attempting to make more arrests but were prevented by casino workers who formed a human shield to block officials.
The second day of negotiations between NagaWorld union organizers, the management of the Hong Kong-listed company and Phnom Penh city officials ended with no results as workers wrapped up a fifth, foggy day on strike in front of the casino complex.
NagaWorld strike participation swelled to around 1,000 active and laid-off workers Tuesday evening, as members of the union waited to hear from its leadership who met with the casino’s management and Phnom Penh authorities all day Tuesday.
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