Cambodian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release union president, Chhim Sithar, and drop the baseless criminal charges against her and eight other union members.
Cambodia: Labor Leader, Activists Facing Unjust Charges miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The 97-page report, “Only ‘Instant Noodle’ Unions Survive: Union Busting in Cambodia’s Garment and Tourism Sectors,” documents how the Cambodian government and some employers have used various legal and administrative tactics during the Covid-19 pandemic to weaken Cambodia’s independent union movement and violate workers’ rights. Measures adopted to address the severe economic impacts of the pandemic have punished independent unions while benefitting employer-friendly unions, which could register quickly with the government, like “making instant noodles,” in the words of a prominent union leader.
Eight of the 11 union leaders and members who were formerly employed at the NagaWorld integrated resort and were arrested for organising protests over their layoffs were released on bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on March 14.