Casino Tropicana (Poipet)
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Phnom Penh Post
A
casino in Poipet that pays wages only in Thai baht is yet to fulfil its
promise to improve conditions for its 500 workers, a union
representative said yesterday.
Workers are still working 12-hour
days – often without a break – at the Tropicana Casino, one of many
gaming venues close to the Thai border in Banteay Meanchey province,
Morm Rithy, vice president of the Cambodian Tourism and Service Workers’
Federation, claimed.
“The managers of the casino make their
decisions outside the labour law, based entirely on what they want –
this is how they manage their staff,” he said.
An agreement
struck on September 10 was to have answered 18 of the workers’ 21
demands, which included issues of overtime, maternity leave and yearly
leave, but bosses have yet to implement a single one.
A scheduled
meeting to discuss the other three – including that three sacked union
leaders be resintated – amounted to nothing at the weekend.
American
Center for International Labor Solidarity country manager Dave Welsh
said he would meet today with the district governor to discuss the
inaction.
“Being paid in Thai baht is not unusual, but it’s
emblematic of Thai companies operating on the border believing they are
not subject to Cambodian Labour Law,” he said.
Welsh said
maternity leave rights were also ignored, as was a workplace agreement
that protected a number of other rights, and that “treatment of the
union leaders is classic behaviour”.
Welsh called it a case of a hugely profitable company being able to take responsibility and pay workers a living wage.
Tropicana Casino could not be reached for comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shane Worrell at shane.worrell@phonmpenhpost.com
Mom Kunthear at kunthear.mom@phnompenhpost.com
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