"Union Says Demand for Reinstatement Headed to Naga Board as Strike Continues", 24 December 2021

As a strike at Phnom Penh’s monopoly casino enters its second week, NagaCorp will take into consideration the workers’ demand to reinstate nearly 300 employees, including top union leaders, a union representative ...

Workers vowed to continue striking over mass redundancies that have targeted union representatives, as the union said this week’s meetings between fired casino employees, the company, city officials and the Labor Ministry had yielded no immediate results.

Labor Rights Supported Union secretary Chhim Sokhorn said the company had initially declined to reinstate 276 of more than 1,300 fired workers who still rejected termination..., a company representative had said they would discuss the matter with the corporate board and inform them later of the decision, Sokhorn said.

... Dy Seiha, NagaWorld’s employee relations manager, declined to comment.

The workers’ protest began ... over the termination of 1,329 workers in a year when the Phnom Penh casino, which has an exclusive license in the city, was forced to suspend operations for months due to Covid-19...

The union has argued that dismissals of labor leaders were only legal in the case of serious misconduct. The Labor Law lists among serious offenses theft, fraud, assault, incitement and political activities in the workplace. The Trade Union Law says leaders, vice leaders and secretaries of workers’ unions are protected from dismissal unless there is “authorisation from the Labour Inspector.” The case has reached the Arbitration Council, but it has avoided making a ruling and passed on the decision to labor inspectors.

... “We will continue to go on strike until there is a solution,” Sokhorn, the union secretary, said.