The president of the National Independent Federation of Textile Unions on Thursday accused the boss of MSI Garment (Cambodia) Ltd, whose employees have ended a two-week strike, of unfairly coercing pledges to stay on the job.
“Workers were forced to fingerprint [a pledge] on Wednesday, promising not go on strike against factory owners. Otherwise, they will be fired from work,” Morm Nhim, the NIFTU president, said.
Twenty-seven workers were detained in the Dangkao district factory’s office after they refused to give their fingerprints, she alleged. The workers were released after the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia stepped in, she said. “I phoned Cheath Khemara, the labor issue officer of GMAC, to inform him and ask him to intervene immediately,” she said.
No representatives of GMAC or MSI Garment (Cambodia) Ltd could be reached for comment on Thursday.
Lee Veng, a NIFTU legal assistant, said the factory owner’s actions were illegal. “Workers can file lawsuits against the factory owner for detaining workers and forcing them to fingerprint,” he said. Nonetheless, the 27 hold-outs gave their fingerprints on Thursday and all of the factory’s 1,700 workers have returned to work, Lee Veng said.
The MSI workers staged an 11-day strike to protest the suspension of an employee accused of theft. That strike ended Jan 29.
Union activists alleged that 100 members of the Intervention Police riot suppression unit struck workers with electric batons and fired over their heads, injuring about 100, to break up the protest.
A municipal court declared the strike illegal on Saturday and ordered employees to return to work within 48 hours. But the workers went back on strike Monday to protest the suspension of seven union activists accused of inciting the strike.
The seven activists resigned their jobs on Tuesday.
“I lost my patience. I can’t work with a factory that violently pressures its workers,” Sim Veasna, one of the seven, said Tuesday.
