Unions Call on Government to Address 7 Proposals on International Labor Day

Phnom Penh: The unions asked the Cambodian government to address seven proposals on the occasion of the 138th anniversary of International Labor Day, May 1, under the theme "One Enterprise, One Peace Community."

The Vice President of the Confederation of Cambodian Worker-Movement, Ms. Ken Chhenglang, said that on behalf of the members of the workers, both formal and informal, who have been working to promote rights and freedoms, working conditions and Livelihood for Workers in Cambodia, Congratulations to the Royal Government, which has the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training as a staff to respond to the requests of workers as follows:

Establish a mechanism to negotiate annual wage increases, implement the National Social Security Fund for occupational health risks, health care and pensions, and provide additional allowances to maternity workers.

Recently, it has provided many additional benefits to workers from pregnancy to childbirth up to 2 years, health check-ups and child health check-ups up to 14 times, each time receiving a stipend of 80,000 Riels.

Intervene to facilitate the cost of renting a house and connecting water and electricity to help reduce the expenses of a large number of workers and to support workers during the suspension of work $ 40 per month to help ease the burden of daily living.

Despite the development of many of the above-mentioned benefits, we still see that the dismissal of union leaders and activists, the use of short-term employment contracts, the implementation of union laws and some legal norms by employers are not yet complete.

Moreover, we observe that service workers, domestic workers, construction workers, entertainment services and handicrafts do not have an exactly minimum wage, they do not always seem to be taken care of by stakeholders. In some cases, they have suffered from non-compliance by some employers.

She said that in order for the “One Enterprise one Peaceful Community” mechanism set up by the government to operate equitably, we request the Royal Government to review and address some of the following proposals:

1. Request the Royal Government to intervene to employers to accept union leaders and activists who have been fired by the company, so that they can return to work and pay remuneration to them.
2. The Royal Government urges factories to stop using short-term employment contracts.
3. The Royal Government review and adjust the implementation of some articles of the Law on Trade Unions, which are obstacles to the performance of trade unions.
4. Let the Royal Government set the minimum wage for workers in the construction services, handicrafts, entertainment services and domestic workers.
5. Request to the Royal Government to encourage employers to provide safe means of transportation for workers in all factories and enterprises.
6. Request the Royal Government to ratify Convention No. 189 on the Working Conditions of Domestic Workers and ILO Convention No. 190 on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the world of work.
7. Request to the Royal Government to establish a community kindergarten near the factory as soon as possible. I sincerely hope that the Royal Government will review and address the above requests to improven the living standards of workers and freedom of association in Cambodia.