Jun

Int’l union report ranks Kingdom in bottom ten

Moeun Tola, the director of labour NGO Central, agreed with the conclusions of the report.

“Khmer workers nowadays are like modern day slaves,” he said. “First, they are handcuffed to a short-term contract. When they are not happy with work conditions, they do not dare to protest. If they protest, their contract will not be renewed when it expires.”

He said that three-quarters of Cambodian workers had been forced into short term contracts. He said they also faced violence or unfair court charges in retaliation for striking or protesting.

International Labour Organization country coordinator Tun Sophorn said that while police crackdowns on strikers did happen, they were “inconsistent” and happened for different reasons unique to each strike.