Two-week Protest Continues

More than 250 workers from the Aerosoft Summit Footwear factory in Battambang province’s Sampov Loun district have continued their two-week protest, demanding better working conditions. Pich Saren, the Sampov Loun district police chief, said yesterday the workers had not been at work for 11 days and were asking for the factory owners to respect the labor law.

“The provincial labor department and the district authorities tried to negotiate and intervene for the workers, but we were not able to find any resolution,” he said. “We also sent the case to the arbitration council, but we have not received results yet. That’s why the workers continue their protest by going to meet with the provincial governor today.” Mr. Saren said the protests did not continue while the workers met with the governor yesterday, but he was unsure if they would be suspended again today. Throughout the 11 days, there was almost no violence, he said, because police were deployed and kept the situation calm.

The National Police reported yesterday that the workers were protesting because they felt the factory was not respecting their rights under the labor law. Among their list of 10 demands, they want the factory to give workers $18 as an attendance bonus, $7 for transportation and accommodation, no wage cuts when workers are sick or protesting and they want the company to be liable in the case of any accidents at the factory. Sum Rorng, president of the Union Federation for Workers Security (UFWS), has represented the workers at the factory and said the meeting with the provincial governor did not lead to any concrete results.

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