Kandal police are considering filing a lawsuit against the leader of striking Cambodian teachers, saying his tactics are illegal.
Tom Vai, chief of the provincial judicial police, said Sunday he is working with court officials to determine whether a suit will be brought against Sa’ang District teacher Rong Chhun, the president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association.
Police are making three accusations against Rong Chhun: illegally establishing the union, staging the strike without a government permit, and illegally distributing 100 leaflets in Sa’ang District calling on teachers to join the strike.
“We are working on the case,” Tom Vai said, “and will send it to the court because what he does is so anarchic.”
Rong Chhun and CITA were the driving force behind a nationwide teacher strike for higher wages that began Thursday.
Participation in the strike has been mixed, with some teachers refusing to work and others continuing to teach their classes. Education officials have said the strike has had little affect on the country’s schools.
Ministry of Education officials have said they will not negotiate with teachers, and the government cannot afford to give them their proposed wage increase from an average of $30 a month to $100 per month.
Rong Chhun said Sunday what he and his association have been doing for the interest of poorly paid teachers is “not unlawful.”
He said he informed the government two months ago of strike plans, and that “no law would ban strikes because everyone before the law has the right to do it.”
Rong Chhun said he did not receive a written permit after submitting his request to strike. He said he “legally” submitted the application form to the Ministry of Interior last Aug 24.
“I have never received any reply from the Interior Ministry,” Rong Chhun said. “It doesn’t mean we are illegal. If they do not agree with me, I should have received a reply.”
Rong Chhun said Interior Ministry officials told him the union didn’t receive a permit because it wasn’t officially created, and that he would have to pay $150 for the union’s creation to be considered official.
Rong Chhun called the demand for money “a type of corruption” and said he did not pay it. Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
The strike continued Saturday at several sites, along with allegations of threats by police and education officials.
Two teachers and three students were arrested Saturday in Kompong Thom province, but were freed after intervention by local human rights workers, a CITA official said. Kampong Thom officials could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Rong Chhun maintains plainclothes policemen have been harassing strikers at the school where he teaches, Hun Sen High School in Sa’ang district.
“CITA considers these actions a clear violation of the teachers’ right to organize, as enshrined in the Constitution,” he said, adding that police should not intervene in matters that concern the Ministry of Education.
Some Takeo district teachers say they have not joined the strike because they feel threatened by their headmasters and local authorities. But many of them expressed support for the strike.
“Teachers here, including me, are scared of going on strike, because if we do we will get in big trouble,” said a Bati district teacher who asked not to be identified. “They have many tricks to make it difficult for us.”
At the Faculty of Pedagogy in Phnom Penh, about three dozen students protested Saturday and burned tires in support of the strikers.
Petitions of support for the strike were circulated by the Students Movement for Democracy, the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Cambodian Independent Watch Committee on Corruption.
“When all teachers unify together 100 percent and walk out on their jobs, it will force the government side to come to the negotiation table sooner,” wrote Chea Vichea, director of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom. “And victory for teachers will come true.”
