Teachers Group Threatened Over Planned Pay Protest
The Interior Ministry on Wednesday threatened to revoke the license of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA) if it goes ahead with a planned demonstration next week seeking higher wages for the country’s educators. An official at the ministry said that the move to revoke the association’s license was in direct response to CITA president Rong Chhun’s involvement in nationwide garment worker strikes, and his affiliation with the opposition CNRP. CITA, which has more than 10,000 members across the country, decided during its annual congress on Tuesday to hold a nationwide weeklong demonstration, beginning Monday, calling for a $250 monthly wage for the country’s poorly paid schoolteachers. The association sent a letter to the government the same day laying out its plans. “We will revoke the license if he [Mr. Chhun] leads a demonstration as he mentioned in his letter,” said Duch Son, chief of the general department of administration at the Ministry of Interior. … According to a letter from the government to Mr. Chhun dated December 27, the labor leader’s political activism is in breach of CITA’s statute, submitted to the Ministry of Interior in 2001, which says the association would be politically neutral. The Interior Ministry released another letter last week also saying that the government does not recognize Mr. Chhun as a union leader, because the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, an umbrella organization that he leads, is not registered with the government. …
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/teachers-group-threatened-over-planned-pay-protest-49855/
