Unions

Roughly 2,000 workers from the Malaysian-owned Global Apparels Limited garment factory in Phnom Penh went on strike yesterday after the factory announced it would be reducing staff numbers by 500 over the coming months, union representatives said yesterday. ... ...

About 500 people gathered outside Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison on Tuesday to demand the release of form­er Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and la­bor activist Ros Si­phay, who were arrested two weeks ago for participating in a demonstration against the company. ... ...

A prosecutor at the Kompong Speu Provincial Court said on Wednesday that charges would stand against five union officials who were released on bail last month af­ter they were arrested during a brawl with a rival association, de­spite calls by a prominent labor leader to ...

More than 100 workers from Japanese-owned quality control firm Kuwahara, whose office is located in the Cambodiana Hotel, gathered in a park across the street from the hotel yesterday morning to boycott their employer and demand they institute a litany of conditions that were born ...

A boycott of the Capitol Bus Company organised by former drivers and their supporters is picking up steam online after a brutal beatdown took place at a protest last week. ... ...

The president of a tuk-tuk and motodop drivers’ association, whose members were recorded on video brutally beating protesting bus drivers over the weekend, said he would file complaints against prominent union and civil society leaders for sparking the violence his own group was accused of ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged two protesters involved in a bloody scuffle that left scores injured over the weekend, while another four prominent unionists were also charged in a significant expansion of the controversial case. ... ...

A bloody scuffle in Phnom Penh on Saturday left scores injured after protesting bus drivers and their supporters were brutally set upon by a rival association armed with sticks, metal bars and hammers. ... ...

The Appeal Court on Thursday upheld convictions of intentional violence and causing property damage against 13 unionists and workers who were arrested during a riot outside a Phnom Penh industrial park on January 3, 2014, at which military police shot dead at least five people. ...

The Free Trade Union has sent a letter to police seeking the release of two union officials arrested on Tuesday over protests at the Cerie garment factory in Kampong Speu province. ... ...

A visiting delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong met with relevant ministries and stakeholders yesterday to discuss the progress of Cambodia’s trade union law and the issues surrounding industrial relations in the Kingdom. ... ...

In a joint statement, civil society and labor leaders urged the government to accept changes to the law as they continue to discuss it. ... ...

Unions yesterday called for further discussion of the draft trade union law after a bipartisan committee tasked with examining the controversial legislation concluded on Tuesday having agreed to few substantive changes. ... ...

The bipartisan committee tasked with examining the Kingdom’s controversial draft trade union law wrapped up its activities yesterday, ultimately making few of the substantive changes that unions demanded. ... ...

Some of the country’s top business leaders laid out their main concerns with a controversial draft union law during a meeting with CPP lawmakers on Monday, including a stipulation that would let only 10 people form a union at a workplace. ... ...

Lawmakers from both the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) were able to reach consensus and move forward on several aspects of the draft union law yesterday, revising seven of 21 articles that had been flagged by union groups ...

Hundreds of workers from the Agile Sweater factory in Kampong Speu province gathered in front of the provincial court yesterday, praying for authorities to release five unionists arrested at the factory on Tuesday. ... ...

About 200 unionists and past and present employees of Siem Reap City’s Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa on Monday demonstrated outside the Siem Reap Provincial Court against an injunction ordering them to stop protesting outside the high-end hotel, but agreed to disperse when military police ...

A joint commission of 10 lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties yesterday met for the first time to review the draft law on trade unions, and two of 21 articles that were flagged as controversial by unions have changed slightly. ... ...

The meeting of a bipartisan committee to discuss the draft trade union law has been delayed yet again, according to a ruling party official. ... ...

Union leaders raised their concerns with a draft law aiming to regulate their activities—including a provision that they must report their finances every year—during their first meeting with CPP lawmakers on a new bipartisan committee formed to review the controversial bill before it goes to ...

As the ASEAN Economic Community agreement nears its implementation on December 31, a network of trade unions has warned that the regional labour market’s liberalisation could spark a “race to the bottom” and harm poor Cambodian workers due to rampant cost-cutting. ... ...

Lawmakers from the CPP and CNRP will convene on Tuesday for the first meeting of a new, ad hoc committee formed to hash out their differences over a controversial draft union law. ... ...

The National Assembly has announced the formation of a bipartisan working group, first promised earlier this month, to examine the controversial draft trade union law.The working group, which was established on Wednesday, is composed of five opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party members and five members ...