Friday, November 27, 2009

Workforce Abuse Jeopardizes US Trade Status: Union

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
26 November 2009

If the government continues to ignore labor violations and fails to address working conditions, it risks its special trade access to lucrative US markets, a leading labor leader said in Washington last week.
Marking the 10-year anniversary of a preferential Cambodia-US trade agreement in Washington, Art Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said unfair practices and poor working conditions will continue without the intervention of the international community.
“They exploit the workforce, and the employers fire factory union leaders or violate workers’ rights when the law isn’t well enforced,” he said at the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.
“I think what has happened will continue to happen if the government and donor countries such as America do not help,” he said. “Our union is trying to work hard to solve the issues, but in reality our power is very limited. And if the leader of the country doesn’t help, then it will be impossible for us to do it alone.”

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