Workers ask for govt action

Photo by: Sovan Philong.

Garment workers take their long-running protest to the Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Wednesday, 07 October 2009 15:02 Tep Nimol

REPRESENTATIVES of more than 1,000 Phnom Penh garment workers who claim they were unfairly sacked earlier this summer have urged the government to intervene and bring an end to the long-running dispute.

The workers claim owners of the Sky High Garment Factory, located in the city’s Choam Chao commune, fired the employees in late June after they took part in a strike.

At the time, protesters said the factory owners were firing four or five workers daily without just cause, according to Keo Sarom, who represents the factory’s workers.

The workers want the Ministry of Labour to take legal action against Sky High for allegedly failing to deliver severance payments and other compensation measures under Cambodian labour law, Keo Sarom said.

Employee Thorng Pan was axed after taking part in the July strike, he said, adding that the company fired the workers en masse without any clear reason.

“We were kicked out unreasonably, so we want the company to pay all the fired workers,” Thorng Pan said.

The ministry’s head of labour disputes, Va Yuva Vathana, said the workers should instead take their cases to the courts.

The workers, however, say they don’t have enough cash to bring the case to court. Sky High representatives could not be reached on Tuesday.