National Trade Union Confederation (Cambodia)

The National Trade Union Confederation (NTUC) is a trade union federation in Cambodia. The union is politically independent and not tied to government or opposition parties.[2]

NTUC
Founded2012
Location
Members
10,000 (claimed)[1]
Key people
Far Saly, President

History

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Far Saly formed NTUC in 2012.[1]

In 2015, NTUC protested at Siko Phnom Penh garment factory in Cambodia's capital against the dismissal of a warehouse chief for founding an NTUC branch in the factory.[3] In 2016, NTUC condemned a proposal by Sam Rainsy to the European Parliament to decrease garment imports from Cambodia in order to increase political pressure on the regime of Hun Sen.[4] In that year, the union also stated its discontent with the way the Ministry of Labour had pushed through a new union law.[5] NTUC claims to have had between 20,000 and 30,000 members around 2016, but that more repressive government attitudes towards trade unions shrank the number to 10,000 by 2018.[1]

In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, NTUC appealed to the government to temporarily close down factories to stop the spread of the pandemic.[6] In 2021, the union called on the government to cancel that year's Cambodian New Year.[7] In January of that year, NTUC president Far Saly was summoned for questioning by a court over allegations of defaming a Chinese factory owner's reputation.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Pech Sotheary (2018-03-16). "From garbage picker to union president". Khmer Times.
  2. ^ "Some Unions Slam Strike Threat". Khmer Times. 2016-05-29.
  3. ^ Pech Sotheary (2015-03-17). "200 strike over unionist's dismissal". The Phnom Penh Post.
  4. ^ "Unions Slam Rainsy's EU Plan". Khmer Times. 2016-07-20.
  5. ^ Mom Kunthear (2016-06-30). "Union Law Kicks in a Month Late". Khmer Times.
  6. ^ Long Kimmarita (2020-03-24). "Factories pressured to close amid pandemic concerns". The Phnom Penh Post.
  7. ^ Sen David (2021-03-19). "Request to cancel Khmer New Year". Khmer Times.
  8. ^ Buth Reaksmey Kongkea (2021-01-31). "Far Saly summoned for questioning". Khmer Times.