Striking hotel workers claimed Sunday they were the target of intimidation by Phnom Penh municipal police and the pro-CPP Pagoda Boys Association.
According to Tuoch Samath, the adviser of the Hotel Cambodiana’s union, about 30 Pagoda Boys arrived at the hotel Sunday morning and tried to intermingle with the strikers.
“They wanted to provoke problems and put the blame on the workers. Then the police could crack down on us,” he said.
Tuoch Samath said that the cordon surrounding the demonstration area prevented the outsiders from slipping in among the union members unnoticed.
He also said that he asked an alleged Pagoda Boy why the group came. He said the Pagoda Boy told him he had no authority to ask such questions, but the district had sent them.
Unable to pass as striking hotel workers, the Pagoda Boys got back in their cars and left, Tuoch Samath said.
Rong To, deputy secretary-general of the Pagoda Children, Intelligentsia and Students Association, as the registered NGO is officially known, denied his members had been at the Cambodiana.
“This is the right of the workers to hold the strike. We don’t interfere,” he said.
The Pagoda Boys have been known to beat and harass peaceful protesters in the past. They have also been accused of inciting turmoil at demonstrations in order for police to justify the use of force.
Minutes after they left, Municipal Deputy Police Chief Moung Khim pulled up to the Cambodiana.
“Moung Khim told me that workers don’t have the right to form the union against the hotel,” Tuoch Samath said.
He said that Moung Khim told the workers that if they stopped striking they would each receive $50 from the hotel.
“Moung Khim said that right now he doesn’t want to crack down on the strike, but [he said] if he wants to, it will only take a small force of officers for the strike to end,” Tuoch Samath said.
Moung Khim confirmed he had visited the Cambodiana strikers on Sunday. “I told them that going back to work is better than holding a strike,” he said.
“If they go back to work, they can wear beautiful uniforms, live in the air conditioning and have good food to eat.”
Moung Khim also said that the union was damaging Cambodia’s image in the eyes of international visitors.
Workers from six of the country’s luxury hotels began striking a week ago over the disbursal of service charges. They have demanded 75 percent of the service charge, which amounts to about 10 percent of a guest’s bill.
Management for the hotels have said that they can pay the workers no more than 30 percent of the service charge.
On Friday, employees of Phnom Penh’s Sunway Hotel also joined the strike.
The Sunway’s union president, Dam Sophat, said Sunday that about 30 intervention police had shown up at Friday’s strike.
“Police asked workers if they wanted to end up like [slain union leader] Chea Vichea,” Dam Sophat said.
Moung Khim on Sunday denied that police had issued any threats to workers.
Ly Korm, president of the Cambodia Tourism and Service Workers Federation, said Sunday that the workers will continue striking this week through the three days of Khmer New Year.
Pap Sambo, president of the workers’ union at Siem Reap’s Grand Hotel d’Angkor, said Sunday that he is meeting today with the Minister of Social Affairs Ith Sam Heng and Tourism Ministry Secretary of State Thong Khon to negotiate a settlement.
