Union plans complaint over bashing by rivals

A person has a wound on his head stitched up after he was hit during a clash at a garment protest in Phnom Penh on Friday. Photo supplied

Union plans complaint over bashing by rivals

Mon, 6 June 2016 ppp

Mech Dara

A union plans to file a complaint today with the Ministry of Interior alleging several representatives were attacked by members of a rival union on Friday outside a factory in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district.

The Cambodian Youth Power Union (CYPU) issued a statement on Friday claiming three representatives were seriously injured by dozens of Khmer Union Federation of Workers Spirit (KUFWS) members, while five sustained minor injuries.

Roughly 300 out of the 700 workers at Kakab commune’s Yorkmars Cambodia garment factory were on strike last week to demand that the owners address issues including transportation allowances, according to a statement from the union.

According to the statement, at about 12:10pm on Friday a group of “gangsters”, which the union claims were members of the KUFWS, gathered outside and beat CYPU representatives Thoeun Dany, Chon In and Kuth Chhiva when they tried to stop a factory truck from exiting the premises.

Police officers watched without intervening in the situation, the statement said. Dany, 25, said the perpetrators used walkie-talkies to beat the victims on the backs of their heads.

KUFWS president Mom Kiek said his union had nothing to do with the incident and his members only observed the situation. “They tried to block the factory’s [truck] so the factory’s driver and security pushed them,” he said.

Company representatives couldn’t be reached yesterday.