"After Bus Company Reneges on Promises, A Desperate Union Resumes Protests", 14 August 2023

After the bus company Giant Ibis Transport delayed concluding negotiations with 30 laid off union employees, the workers continued protests at the company’s Sen Sok district station in Phnom Penh ...

Giant Ibis has repeatedly delayed the deadlines to complete negotiations, which were initially set to conclude ...

The union members estimate they are collectively owed more than $100,000 by the company, according to the labor law, or around $7,000 to $8,000 per person, union leader Siem Morady says.

However, the company delayed negotiations three times since the originally agreed-upon date in late May, provoking the union to resume its protests to demand long-standing benefits after being suspended from work …, Morady says.

“We came here to maintain our stance requesting the company take us back to work, settle full payment of our long-standing severance and seniority benefits and we also urge the company to stop intimidating our union,” Morady told ...

During the protest, Giant Ibis Transport representative Ou Phanny — who signed agreements on behalf of the company at the negotiation at the Labour Ministry, allegedly shouted and behaved aggressively towards the union members, Morady says.

“He ranted with offensive remarks to our union members,” Morady claims. “He completely crossed the line.”

… Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, which helped the Giant Ibis employees unionize …, said that the company’s claims of repeatedly miscalculating the severance and seniority payments for laid-off employees was becoming a tired excuse. The problem, he said, was “not hard to solve.”…