The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs plans to send letters to factory owners in hopes of finding a way to give workers time off to register to vote in the country’s first commune elections.
Um Mean, director general of the ministry, said he was reviewing the matter after the National Election Committee requested that the ministry ask government officials to facilitate voter registration for factory workers.
“We know that if they stop working, the factory will lose money,” Um Mean said. “But workers also have the right to vote. It is a national issue, so we need to facilitate.”
Wang Hsin, president of the Cambodia Shoes Industry Association, said all factory owners will have a meeting to discuss giving workers time off to register to vote. There are about 200 garment factories in Cambodia and they employ 150,000 people.
“We will all decide together and have the same policy,” he said.
Krouch Sophary, chief of cabinet for the Ministry of Labor, said the government could not decide to give workers time off on its own because there is no sub-decree making election day a national holiday on which workers get a day off.
Chea Vichea, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said he also sent a letter to the Ministry of Social Affairs asking for intervention to allow workers to have time to register to vote.
“If I do not make demands for them, they will have no opportunity to choose a new commune chief,” he said.
“It is rare to have such an election but they are poor so they are busy making money. And some are not interested in joining elections.”
The Sam Rainsy Party, which is popular among factory employees, is urging workers to register in the commune where they live, instead of in their native province.
(Additional reporting by Gina Chon)
