Protection Unit
Unit Objective: Workers/employees and their networks are better protected in their pursuit of workers’ rights and social change.
Key Interventions:
1./ Provide legal consultation, representation and defense for workers exposed to at-risk workers, human right defenders, and injustices in the labor sector.
2./ Strengthen legal capacity in both relevant national and international laws, especially laws on labor, trade unions, and social protection schemes.
3./ Monitor, investigate, and advocate for legal complaints to protect workers/employees and union leaders who are at risk and suffer injustice.
Despite the development and growth of the labor sector in Cambodia, it is still characterized by low wages for workers compared to other countries in the region. The $204 minimum wage demonstrates the chronic problem of unparalleled minimum wages and further impoverishment of workers due to rising living cost crises, with more workers turning to informal loans. With interest rates as high as 20 percent of the total loan, this exacerbates the family debt crisis. In addition, freedom of association has fallen into disrepair/deep concerns. In February 2024, CENTRAL found that at least 69 cases had been unfairly judged and misclassified, which could not reach the Arbitration Council. According to data collected and provided by independent unions and federations, at least 33,923 workers from 49 factories are still employed under short-term or fixed-term contracts (FDCs), although their contracts should be unlimited duration contracts (UDCs). We also recorded the case of 630 workers who were employed for a FDC and were not re-employed after forming and actively joining unions in their workplaces.
In recent years, CENTRAL has represented over 4,189 union leaders who were illegally fired, and over 100 union leaders have been convicted of crimes for their union activities and the protection of their collective rights, and 250 victims of fraud and human trafficking. Legal representation in the above cases was provided by the Protection Unit. The legal protection program plays an important role in providing legal assistance, including legal consultation, legal defense, and monitoring and advocacy to protect at-risk workers and union leaders to ensure that they are fully able to exercise the rights and freedoms of association to protect the collective rights and interests of workers, as enshrined in both national and international law.
Our Other Programmes
Organizing Unit
Organizing Unit is tasked with training independent labor activists, union leaders, and Cambodian working people in Cambodian labor law and the fundamental rights they are legally entitled to. Their overall strategic goal is to contribute to stronger
Media ICT Unit
Unit Objective: The objective of this unit is to increase acknowledgement of labor, migration and human rights issues and the need for reform locally and internationally. Key Interventions: Promote Worker’s Messages and Voices to duty bearers by producing media talk shows, online campaigns, educational materials and other digital tools for public education. Capacity development on digital security training provided to cross-cutting workers and network on digital security and citizen journalism as well as builds solidarity networks to support and facilitate communication. The situation of freedom of expression in Cambodia is concerning. Lack of freedom of information and expression limits the capacity and means of citizens to raise their voices widely to duty bearers and stakeholders. The issues around the media, information, and the digital landscape in Cambodia have a multifaceted impact on the population, especially workers and civil society actors. With the rapid acceleration of global digital transformation and innovation, the number of Facebook users in Cambodia has risen to 13 863 800 users in May 2024, accounting for 77.3% of the entire population. Social media users now access news primarily via Facebook, the most popular platform in Cambodia. Most workers in Cambodia and abroad use it for daily communication. One of the main challenges facing Cambodian workers is digital literacy. Many pay an agent to set up their social media and email accounts. They lack the knowledge to secure their online communications and personal information, and to ward against online scams, leading to frequent loss of social media accounts and exposure to online threats. Additionally, workers often lack the courage to report violations when employers breach labor laws; they are uncertain about how to document and publicize such incidents. Therefore, they require more training on reporting procedures and how to capture quality photos and videos. The use of ICT here is invaluable, enabling them to promptly seek intervention with proper evidence to fall back on. Since 2017, CENTRAL has trained thousands of union leaders, key workers, grassroots community, and youth (~60% female) on ICT/digital security training, and citizen journalism skills. This training has been crucial in protecting unions, workers and their networks online.
Anti-Human Trafficking and Migration
There are no less than 3 million Cambodian migrant workers - documented and undocumented - currently working abroad in Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and other countries. The majority of Cambodian migrant workers work in 3D (“Difficult, Dirty, and Dangerous”) jobs