RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LEADING CAMBODIAN UNION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 001461 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, DRL/IL--MARK MITTELHAUSER, AND EAP/TPP/ABT THOMAS LERSTEN LABOR FOR ILAB--JIM SHEA AND JONA LAI GENEVA FOR RMA STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR--BARBARA WEISEL AND DAVID BISBEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PHUM CB SUBJECT: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LEADING CAMBODIAN UNION REF: PHNOM PENH 1264 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Several significant events related to the Free Trade Union (FTU),Cambodia's most important pro-opposition union, occurred during the month-long hiatus in minimum wage negotiations between unions and garment manufacturers. The FTU formed a new confederation with long-time partner, the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association (CITA). The FTU has also joined an effort led by the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) -- a long-time supporter of the labor movement -- to organize rubber workers, a sector currently represented only by a pro-government union. Three FTU officials from one factory were convicted of illegal confinement and sentenced to time served and probation. End Summary. Free Trade Union and Teachers Association Confederate -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Cambodia's two largest pro-opposition unions, the FTU and CITA established a new confederation, the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU),on August 6. CITA and the FTU will remain separate organizations with separate leadership, but hope that the new confederation will allow for even closer cooperation and greater influence. ¶3. (U) FTU President Chea Mony has been notably absent from labor activities over the past several weeks, spending his time in his home province seeking treatment for tuberculosis and typhoid. Some labor observers had speculated that the confederation was a way of shoring up the FTU leadership given Chea Mony's ailing health. However, Rong Chhun, CITA President and Chea Mony's confidante, told Poleconoff on August 11 that in fact the new confederation had been planned for months and was originally going to include two other unions -- the Cambodian Tourism Service Workers Federation (CTSWF) and the Cambodian Coalition of Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU). When increased labor unrest and FTU's threatened general strike delayed the formation of the planned confederation, CTSWF, CCAWDU, and two smaller unions went ahead and formed their own group -- the Cambodian Labor Confederation. ¶4. (SBU) The new CCU confederation may run into registration problems stemming from its inclusion of both private sector workers, who are entitled to unionize under Cambodian labor law, and teachers, who are considered public servants and are not allowed to unionize. In June, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MOLVT) refused to register the Cambodian Labor Confederation, arguing that the civil servants and informal sector workers represented by two of the constituent groups were not entitled to form unions under Cambodia's Labor Law, and as such must register as associations with the Ministry of the Interior. Rong Chhun told Poleconoff that he hopes to avoid this problem by attempting to register with the Ministry of the Interior, but the Ministry of Interior may well claim that it has no authority to register organizations that include unions. Village Leaders Disrupt Attempt to Organize Rubber Workers -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) Sam Rainsy Party senior official Mu Sochua is leading an effort to bring rubber plantation workers, a group currently represented only by the pro-CPP Cambodian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (CFITU),into pro-opposition unions. An August 12, a SRP-led gathering of about 40 workers at the Chamcar Angduong rubber plantation in Kampong Cham province was disrupted when the village chief ordered Mu Sochua's microphone turned off, played loud music to drown out the discussion, and cursed the workers. Ten local police officers stood by but did not intervene. About half of the assembled workers left, but the remaining workers reassembled a short distance from the original site and talked with Rong Chhun and FTU Vice President Sam Srey Mom about the labor law and the role of unions, finally deciding to organize. FTU Leaders Convicted -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On August 7, three factory-level FTU leaders from PHNOM PENH 00001461 002 OF 002 Genuine garment factory were convicted of illegal confinement and sentenced to time served plus three years probation. (Note: While misdemeanor charges, like destruction of property, are a common method of harassing union leaders, post believes that this is the first time that unionists have been convicted of a felony. End Note.) The three were charged with using a barricade to confine garment factory managers during a labor dispute (reftel). While the barricade and the related strike were illegal, the managers admitted to Poleconoff on July 6 that in fact they had never actually been confined. ¶7. (SBU) FTU leader Chea Mony and Genuine factory owner Okhna Sheang Chanheng agreed on July 6 that the union would remove the illegal blockade in exchange for the charges against the workers being dropped and the workers released by July 10. The workers immediately removed the blockade. As the workers remained in jail past the July 10 deadline, the embassy repeatedly reminded Sheang Chanheng of her agreement, which had been brokered with embassy encouragement. The factory owner claimed to have little influence over the courts and to be running into bureaucratic obstacles in getting the workers released. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) While the threatened general strike that propelled Cambodia's largest pro-opposition union into the headlines receded from attention for several weeks, there have been other major developments within the FTU. The FTU-CITA confederation institutionalizes the close relationship between the two unions' leaders, and, whether in the works for months or not, coincides with the withdrawal of Chea Mony from an active union leadership role. The SRP is likely to continue greater efforts to work closely with labor unions with the approach of elections; Mu Sochua has specifically carved out a role as the party official in charge of union liaison. Kampong Cham is one province with strong SRP workers at the grassroots level, and one of the most activist SRP parliamentarians (Mao Monyvann). End Comment. MUSSOMELI