Disputed Factory Vote Solved

A dispute between two competing unions over the rules of a factory’s steward elections was re­solved last week, leading one union to accuse international observers of interfering with the Cambodian labor law, union officials said Tuesday.

Leaders of the Cambodian Union Federation and the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia decided March 25 to nullify the results of a March 22 shop steward election and reschedule the vote for May 3, Free Trade Union president Chea Vichea said Tuesday.

The election was met with contention by the Free Trade Union, which claimed the vote was un­fair because it involved only candidates from the CUF, the largest union in the Russei Keo district factory. A scuffle broke out between the two unions following the controversy, leading CUF members to threaten Free Trade Union country liaison George McLeod and American Center for International Labor Solidarity country representative Jason Judd with violence.

CUF president Chuon Mom Thol said the election was fair, according to Prakas 305 of the Labor Law, which states that only the most representative union may negotiate in collective bargaining agreements. But Judd said the section of the labor law dealing with steward elections states that any worker may run for the position, regardless of union affiliation.

Chea Vichea said he was happy with the result but could not be “100 percent sure that the factory would uphold the decision.”

The factory’s lawyer, CK Lim, said the factory was not concerned about the dispute and cared only that workers showed up to work on time.

But CUF president Chuon Mom Thol was less satisfied.

“I feel in Cambodia there is no rule of law because of the two American people. George Mc­Leod and Jason Judd try to push us from abiding by the Labor Law,” Chuon Mom Thol said.

Judd said he was only interpreting the Labor Law as it was written.

McLeod could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Lejo Sibbel, the International Labor Organization’s Chief Technical Advisor, said unions have the right to appeal to any party for advice on labor disputes.