Unions, GMAC tussle over New Year strike
Garment worker unions have tangled with factory owners over the unions’ plan to use the coming Khmer New Year holiday to launch a nationwide strike. A coalition of eight unions will send a letter today to the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) stating that workers will use their annual leave to extend the three-day holiday, which starts on April 14, through April 22. … Article 170 of the Labor Law states that all employees have the right to 18 days of paid leave per year, but only after one year of service and with appropriate notice to employers, who must also approve the vacation time. … Ken Loo, secretary-general of GMAC, which represents about 450 garment and footwear factories employing about 500,000 workers, said the unions would be acting outside their mandate in sending a letter notifying association members about the expanded holiday. … Yaing Sophorn, president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, said her members would go ahead and extend their holiday, regardless of the law. … In the letter, the unions ask GMAC to address seven demands, including the release of 21 prisoners who have been imprisoned since being arrested at garment protests that were violently suppressed in January. …
Mech Dara and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-gmac-tussle-over-new-year-strike-55543/
