The deputy chairman of a major garment factory trade association said he will “not accept” a new union at his factory because he prefers a union run by a ruling CPP official. 

Soon after, the factory allegedly demanded in late May that the new union’s vice president Yoeun Yim withdraw from the union or lose his job, according to Yim.

Textile, Apparel, Footwear and Travel Goods Association (TAFTAC) deputy chairman Enjoy Ho, who owns the SYSG Garment Company Limited factory in Phnom Penh, had previously warned the president of the Independent Trade Union Federation (INTUFE) that he did not want a new union formed by Yim and other workers at the factory. In his text message, Ho noted his factory already had a union affiliated with the Cambodian Labor Union Federation, run by Som Aun, a member of the ruling CPP’s central committee.