Strikes (#Caltex #US Embassy #SvayRieng)

[geovalin]

Phak Seangly

Workers striking at Caltex petrol stations put their grievances on the record with the US Embassy yesterday, submitting a petition asking for intervention in their case.

Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation president Sar Mora, along with some 40 members of Caltex’s staff, gathered at the embassy, asking the US to help in their quest for a salary of $160 per month and an annual $160 bonus.

“We know that the US government always pays a lot attention to the rights of employees and working conditions in Cambodia,” Mora said to embassy staff member David Kaplan.

Caltex employees at all 18 locations in Phnom Penh began striking on Monday and workers at some provincial branches have since joined. About 300 are currently striking, Mora said.

In an email, Chanlek Than, a spokesperson for Chevron (Cambodia) Limited – a parent to Caltex – said the company is eager to solve the problem and fears inconveniencing
its customers.

“Our priority is to resolve this issue amicably and to resume operations,” Than said.

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Workers fired after strike

Fri, 16 May 2014

Sen David

Two factories in the Manhattan Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet town have fired more than 40 workers since thousands-strong strikes ended early this month, unions say.

Terminations at Best Way and Fico garment factories were bosses’ way of exacting revenge for the large-scale strike that closed entire SEZs for days, Meas Sokna, an official from the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said.

All 40 dismissals occurred last week, and about 10 new workers replaced them, an official at Best Way said.

“It is not acceptable,” Sokna said. “After they joined the strike last month, the company fired a few workers each day until more than 40 had been sacked.”

But Sek Somporse, a Best Way assistant administrator, said the firings had nothing to do with the strike. Factory officials fired employees because of unsatisfactory work, he said.

“They did not work well at the factory and were stubborn at work,” Somporse said.

“[Firings] did not involve the strike.”