More than 400 workers from the Chun Chao garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey district, Cambodia are on protest after the owner left the country without paying them their January wages.
The workers protesting are in hope of getting attention from relevant officials to be able to compensate them for their losses. The factory was not even facing bankruptcy as daily operations had continued unimpeded for a long time and no signs of financial struggle could be observed.
Sarah Fox, Special Representative, US International Labor Affairs expressed her concern over the alarming spate of foreign factory owners fleeing the country and shirking their financial obligations. She admitted that US Government has no solution for how to deal with the problem. She suggested a system of protection to ensure workers were not left unpaid using the example of unemployment insurance.
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“It might require factories and employees to pay into a fund that workers would be entitled to in the event of an unexpected closure or loss of employment, further adding, “All of these issues create questions about the systems that a country has to help workers who lose their jobs… [They] raise questions for the Government of Cambodia about whether there is a better way to help ensure that it’s not workers who are left with the pain when a factory closes,” said Fox.
