Union wary of possible crackdown
Preparing for a demonstration expected to draw thousands of garment workers this morning, Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said yesterday that he feared the possibility of a heavy-handed military police response. …
About 4,000 workers gathered at SL on Friday morning, C.CAWDU vice president Kong Athit said. With a petition detailing the workers’ 11 demands in hand, the large assemblage made its way towards the prime minister’s house on Sihanouk Boulevard, only to be stopped by about 1,000 military police and seven fire trucks.
Military police eventually allowed 30 SL demonstrators to pass and deliver their petition to members of the prime minister’s cabinet, but the stopping of the march stands in stark contrast to one earlier this month, during which a crowd of SL strikers roughly the same size blocked a busy stretch of Monivong Boulevard in front of City Hall for three hours. …
The military police response on Friday also marked a departure from the government’s tone last week, when Hun Sen and the National Assembly pledged reforms to the Kingdom’s judiciary and economic land concession policy, Moen Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center, said.
Management at SL maintains that demands from workers, who briefly returned to work before going back on strike after military police guarding the factory severely beat an employee during a smaller demonstration on September 20, are unreasonable. …
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-wary-possible-crackdown
