About 1,000 striking garment workers protested outside the Takeo Provincial Hall on Wednesday, urging the governor to intervene in a dispute with factory management over a supervisor accused of mistreatment, a rights monitor said.
Workers from the Gabo Tech garment factory in Donkeo City’s Roka Krao commune demanded the governor step in to fire a factory supervisor whom they accused of repeatedly belittling staff and dismissing 20 employees without reason, said Nut Chamroeun, who monitors women’s issues for rights group Adhoc and witnessed the protest.
Employees had successfully negotiated better work conditions after striking in July, but their complaint against the supervisor was rejected based on a lack of evidence, she said.
Mom Somphors, a representative of the Khmer Union of Workers Spirit, which helped file a staff complaint with the provincial labor department in July, said he had advised workers to calmly resolve the conflict.
Lay Vannak, the Takeo provincial governor, and Tit Sok, the deputy governor, could not be reached for comment. Eng Leang, an administrator for Gabo Tech, declined to comment.
