Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng met with around 1,000 members of the Collective Workers Rights Protection Union of Cambodia (CWPUC) on July 18 and praised its efforts in solving workers’ problems.
Sar Kheng, who is also vice-president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), said the CWPUC had contributed to addressing workers’ problems in accordance with the government’s policies.
He said the union had contributed to maintaining security, as well as socio-economic development in Cambodia.
He urged the union to continue its work in promoting workers’ rights and to cooperate with the government to address any challenges workers may face.
“The CWPUC has contributed to strengthening and increasing support for the CPP, especially among workers and informal workers for the sake of maintaining security, and socio-economic development,” he said in a social media post.
Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) president Ath Thorn also spoke at the meeting, saying the existing legal framework afforded the opportunity for forming unions, associations and civil society organisations to promote workers’ and citizens’ rights.
However, he noted that some unions had faced problems with employers, authorities and the courts.
Thorn called for a review of the activities of unions that did not follow the law and did not appear to be helping workers.
“Some unions do not follow the law. Some are influenced by employers, religious groups or political parties, but can carry out their activities smoothly.
“They stand on the side of employers, and so are not fully focused on helping the workers.
“So my request would be to review the activities of such unions to see whether they actually are helping workers,” he said.
