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.