By Tep Nimol
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Phnom Penh Post
SH factory bosses in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district stood firm for a
fifth day yesterday as they again refused to negotiate with more than
700 workers demanding better working conditions.
![120425_05a](http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120425/120425_05a.jpg)
Photo by Mai Vireak
Workers protest for a $10 raise outside SH factory in Phnom Penh.
As workers maintained their low-key strike
– one notable for its lack of banners, road blocks and flaming tyres –
SH administration chief Un Sophoeun said the factory’s boss had again
refused to consider their nine demands.
These include the sacking of two administration officials and two sewing line leaders.
The
workers also want a $10 transportation allowance, a $10 bonus toward
their rent, a $10 incentive bonus and for their basic salary to be
increased to $70.
Un Sophoeun said the strike – set to continue today – had cost the company a lot of money, though he refused to reveal how much.
“The company has no intention of meeting with the union to settle this dispute,” he said.
“The Labour Ministry has already submitted this case to the Arbitration Council and is awaiting its decision.”
Lay
Sokha, a workers’ representative and vice-president of the Free Trade
Union at SH, said the workers tempers were flaring because they felt
they were getting nowhere.
“The workers became angry yesterday
when the company again did not negotiate with them,” she said. “They
will keep protesting until the case is settled.”
Chea Mony,
national president of FTU, said it would be discrimination if the
factory, in Choam Chao commune, did not meet with workers to negotiate.
The
employees’ request for a $10 transportation allowance, a $10 rental
bonus and a food allowance for overtime work was “better than the law”,
he said, adding that the company should compromise so the workers could
return to work.
Va Yuvathana, director of the labour dispute
office at the Ministry of Labour, said what the workers had demanded was
“contrary to the law”.
The ministry had no power to resolve the dispute and had submitted the case to the Arbitration Council on Monday, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tep Nimol at nimol.tep@phnompenhpost.com
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