CAMBODIA'S STRIKES WANE, BUT CONTENTIOUS LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000788 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/ILCSR--MARK MITTELHAUSER GENEVA FOR JOHN CHAMBERLIN STATE PLEASE PASS TO LABOR FOR ILAB--BILL BRUMFIELD, JIM SHEA, CHRIS WATSON, AND ZHAO LI STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR--DAVID BISBEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV CB SUBJECT: CAMBODIA'S STRIKES WANE, BUT CONTENTIOUS LABOR ISSUES LOOM REF: A. 06 PHNOM PENH 1124 ¶B. PHNOM PENH 662 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Cambodia's often tumultuous labor sector has been notably calm so far in 2007, with working days lost to strikes down 50% from 2006 levels. A crackdown on a particularly notorious union, a recent minimum wage increase, embassy efforts to discourage illegal strikes, and slowly increasing sophistication among union members have all helped to contribute to the decline in labor unrest. But, there are signs of potential trouble ahead. Controversial issues of night shift wages, employmentcontracts, and union rights and responsibilities which have languished for years are finally being discussed, but these conversations are taking place in the pro-business Eighth Private Sector Working Group. Unions have little effective say in the decisionmaking there--both due to the structure of the group and to their internal weaknesses--and as a result, worker's interests are not being adequately represented. Minister of Labor Vong Sauth, who has now been in the job for one year, shows few signs of bringing effective leadership to this or any other issue. End Summary. Labor Unrest Subsides in Early 2007... -------------- ¶2. (U) Working days lost to strikes in Cambodia's garment industry have declined dramatically from record-setting levels in 2006: in the first five months of 2007, only half as many days were lost to strikes as in the same period in ¶2007. Several factors contribute to the drop in labor unrest. Last year's FTU-led effort to increase the minimum wage fueled unrest, labor observers say, while workers who now have an 11% increase in the minimum wage are reluctant to strike. Embassy outreach to union leaders last year helped explain that strikes should only be pursued as a last resort, and emphasized that excessive strikes could lead buyers to pull out of the country due to fears about production delays. Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony reported that some workers are becoming more aware that some unscrupulous union leaders are manipulating workers to be able to extort factory owners and are refusing to participate in illegal strikes. ¶3. (SBU) Government pressure against one notorious union, the CPP-affiliated Khmer Youth Free Trade Union (KYFTU),has also played a significant role in keeping labor unrest to reasonable levels. The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) lodged complaints against the union in November 2005 and September 2006 and post raised concerns about the union during meetings with senior Ministry of Labor officials in September 2006 and during the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Joint Council in February ¶2007. KYFTU leader Yun Rithy was reportedly detained and questioned for three hours in September 2006. Seng Sekada, Director General of the Labor Department, tells us that the union has taken a lower profile after committing the "serious offense" of implying the Prime Minister endorsed a thinly veiled bribe request letter sent to garment factories. ..but Big Issues Loom on the Horizon -------------- ¶4. (U) The FTU's threat to hold a general strike in response to the National Assembly's expected passage of a lower night shift wage (ref B) seems to be fizzling. The National Assembly has not taken up the issue as quickly as expected and the presidents of the FTU and its partner, teacher's union CITA, are leaving June 9 for three weeks of Sam Rainsy Party political and fundraising events in Long Beach, California; Lowell, Massachusetts; and Houston, Texas. ¶5. (U) In contrast to the deflating night shift wage issue, several labor observers have warned that two pending labor issues have the potential to seriously erode worker's rights and to create significant unrest: fixed duration contracts and efforts to revise legislation about union rights and responsibilities. Cambodian labor law distinguishes between two types of employment contracts: fixed duration contracts (FDCs),which must be written, last for not more than 2 years, and have a precise starting and end date; and undetermined duration contracts (UDCs),which are essentially PHNOM PENH 00000788 002 OF 003 everything else. Labor observers believe that fixed duration contracts can be easily abused, with working periods as short as 3 months before renewal creating perpetual job insecurity, particularly for union leaders and pregnant women who would be entitled to paid maternity leave. Employers would like to negate an Arbitration Council decision that ruled that FDCs can be renewed only up to a total period of two years, at which point they automatically become UDCs. Employers argue publicly that they need more flexibility in their workforces, and explain privately that firing unproductive or troublesome employees is much more likely to lead to strikes than simply failing to renew the short-term contracts of those workers. ¶6. (U) It is still not entirely clear what specific issues would be addressed in the discussion on union rights and responsibilities, but the ILO's John Ritchotte believes that illegal strikes, union registration requirements, and most representative status will most likely be included. Currently, the vast majority of garment sector strikes are illegal, with unions failing to give seven days notice and take a secret ballot vote as required. Lax laws surrounding union registration and the government's failure to certify a single union at each factory as most representative for the purposes of collective bargaining have led to a situation where there are more than 900 factory-level unions competing for members in Cambodia's 300 garment factories. As a result, factory-level union leaders compete with one another for members, fueling excessive demands and illegal strikes, and some unions harass and intimidate rival union members. Eighth Working Group is Where the Action Is -------------- ¶7. (SBU) There is substantial new energy and power in a year-old group tackling labor issues, but labor observers and unions complain that worker interests are often ignored in the business-centered process. Like the other working groups affiliated with the semi-annual government-business conference called the Private Sector Forum, the group has business and government co-chairs, but unions have no part in the leadership structure. While the working group has met three times, it has yet to consider any proposals submitted by unions, focusing instead on issues raised by businesses and at times frustrating even government participants with its strident pro-business tone. Meanwhile, three out of the four union seats on the working group have gone to pro-government/pro-management unions, which are more numerous but smaller than the pro-opposition and independent unions. Unions are further disadvantaged by the poor organization of the group, which tends to meet in a series of frenzied discussions just weeks or days before they are called on to announce their progress in the semi-annual Private Sector Forum. (Note: The next Private Sector Forum is tentatively scheduled for mid-July. End Note.) Well-prepared employers come ready with proposals that they have already discussed with government officials privately, while unions seem to ignore rumors of what is likely to be discussed and only start thinking about a response when the issue is all but decided. ¶8. (SBU) The ILO is so disturbed by the lop-sided power structure of the group and the lack of effective worker representation that it has threatened to publicly resign from the committee if the process is not made more democratic. Employers are pleased that long-standing labor issues are finally being addressed. Ken Loo of GMAC acknowledged that workers have relatively little say in the group, but favored reforming the group's functioning rather than scrapping the group altogether. The New Minister of Labor Unimpressive One Year On -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) After a year in office, the Minister of Labor, Vong Sauth, seems to many to be as invisible and powerless as his ineffectual predecessor, Nhep Bunchin. The minister rarely appears in public, has little apparent hands-on interaction with labor issues, and has little influence over the Eighth Working Group. Pro-CPP union leader Vong Sovann described the new minister as ineffective, unresponsive, and lacking the authority to solve labor problems. Men Nimmith, the Executive Director of the USAID- and DOL-funded Arbitration PHNOM PENH 00000788 003 OF 003 Council Foundation, traveled with Vong Sauth on a study tour of labor relations in Australia and said that the minister seemed to have little knowledge of current labor affairs. He was vague and unimpressive in his meetings with Australian officials, and refused to deliver a speech written at his request, instead having his staff distribute copies to the media and explaining to Men Nimmith that actually talking to the media was too embarrassing as they were prone to ask political questions. ¶10. (SBU) Employers have a slightly rosier picture of Vong Sauth, noting that, as a CPP member and the son-in-law of National Assembly President Heng Samrin, he has better connections than Nhep Bunchin, who complained of not even being able to control his CPP subordinates because he was a FUNCINPEC minister. Nonetheless, even to employers, his role seems to consist of forwarding business-initiated proposals up the Cambodian leadership chain rather than pro-actively finding solutions. Comment -------------- ¶11. (SBU) The current relative calm in Cambodia's labor sector is a welcome change from the tumult experienced at this time last year. Unions seem to be slowly maturing with regards to the frequency with which they launch strikes. At the same time, national level unions remain ineffective representatives of their worker's interests, a critical failing which becomes more and more damaging as the Eighth Working Group manages to tackle long-simmering issues such as night shift wages, employment contracts, and union rights and responsibilities. If this imbalance remains and important issues are decided without effective worker participation and against their interests, labor unrest is likely to increase once more. End Comment. MUSSOMELI