2015 ITUC Global Rights Index - Cambodia

2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 5

Bus company fires 17 employees for forming union, rejects court order to reinstate 15:

Sorya Transportation, a bus company based in Phnom Penh, fired 17 employees for trying to form a bus drivers' union at the company in April 2014. More than 60 people went on strike following the sackings, demanding reinstatements, a salary rise and several other points. Most drivers later returned to work, leaving only those who had been terminated to continue protesting. The vice president of the bus driver union, Yem Kuyba, filed a lawsuit with Phnom Penh Municipal Court in April, which was forwarded to the Arbitration Council. On 4 July 2014, the Arbitration Council ruled that the bus company must rehire 15 workers and pay benefits according to the law to the other two. Sorya Transportation general manager Chan Sophanna said he would only rehire the workers if the council helped him pay their salaries.

May Day event not sanctioned; Ministry threatens – and uses – force to disperse gathering:

Around 20 unions requested permission from the Phnom Penh City Hall to stage a gathering at Freedom Park on 1 May 2014. The request was denied. A spokesperson from the City Hall indicated that the authorities did not authorise the gathering because they were still investigating the January violence at the venue. On 2 May 2014, the Phnom Penh Post reported that police and security forces injured at least 5 people at a Labour Day rally next to Freedom Park. The injuries occurred when the police and security forces (some in civilian dress) violently broke up the rally using batons and cattle prods. More than 1,500 people had gathered around Naga Bridge on Norodom Boulevard at about 9am to voice demands for better working conditions and wages, and to greet the arrival of opposition leaders Sam Rainsy, Kem Sokha and Mu Sochua. At about 10am, after the Cambodia National Rescue Party leaders had left, more than 100 helmeted Daun Penh district security guards, along with municipal police and plain-clothed men wielding wooden batons, metal poles and cattle prods, were deployed to disperse the thinning crowd. On Street 108, security guards were seen beating people over the head with batons at random. One man was dragged off his motorbike and beaten by a crowd of district security guards in front of journalists and NGO workers.

Force used to end Veng Sreng strike:

On 2 May 2014, paramilitary forces from Brigade 70 broke up a strike of 100 employees at Pemir Garment Factory on Veng Sreng Boulevard. The workers were demanding a lunch bonus and an end to forced overtime. Worker representative Chan Saban, 21, said: "We protested without any brute force, so using soldiers to crack down is not right."

Six union representatives charged over protest to scare others from organising:

On 6 May 2014, the Kompong Speu Provincial Court charged six union representatives with incitement over a protest near the Wing Star Shoes factory that day, in a move unions say was unjustified and meant to intimidate.

Court prosecutor Keo Sothea said all six were charged with threatening to commit a crime and inciting a felony for allegedly encouraging the factory workers to block a road during their protest for back pay and more benefits. The men were arrested while setting up loudspeakers for the protest.

Sath Chheang Hour, president of the Cambodia National Confederation for Labor Protection, said all seven were officers in two partner unions. Four of the arrested men belonged to the Khmer Worker Power Federation Union, and two belonged to the Cambodia Solidarity Union Federation. The unions said the arrests were clearly meant to scare them out of organising legitimate strikes.

The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.