A newspaper in Phnom Penh reports that NagaWorld casino has fired more than 400 workers who went on strike against Cambodia’s pre-eminent gaming resort 10 days ago to demand a wage increase.
The move comes hours after 19 strikers were arrested outside the casino by capital city police, said English-language daily The Phnom Penh Post.
“They’re using this message to threaten the strikers into thinking they have to return to work without any demands or they have lost their jobs,” said Sok Narith of the Cambodian Tourism and Service Workers Federation, the union representing the workers.
Chhim Sitha, vice president of the casino’s in-house union, said she contacted the Ministry of Labour after she was fired last Wednesday prior to negotiations between government officials and worker representatives.
“The company accused us of making an illegal strike,” she said. “So I sent the message to Ministry of Labour officials to intervene.”
The strike began last Thursday after the company rejected the union’s demand for an increase in the minimum wage to US$150 a month and workers came to believe management planned to replace them.
According to the Post, the firings were announced the morning after security guards, backed by police, stormed a park opposite the casino where strikers had erected tents. The tents were dismantled and 19 workers and union leaders who refused to move were arrested. Those detained, 11 of them women, were released some hours later without charge.
Mr Sok said the strike will continue “until [NagaWorld] respects the Labour Law and implements orders of the Arbitration Council.”
Workers disputes at NagaWorld have been the subject of five Arbitration Council hearings since early 2009, the Post said.
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