"No relief for laid-off workers as auction of seized factory equipment delayed", 30 December 2020

An auction of machinery seized by the government from two shuttered factories to compensate workers has been delayed, with the lone interested buyer refusing to deposit 10 percent of the reserve price to secure the goods.

…, the Kandal Provincial Court was … set to auction machinery confiscated from the Dignity Knitter and ECO Base factories, with the proceeds to compensate more than 1,000 staff owed salaries, bonuses and compensation.

While four potential buyers registered for bidding, only one showed up – but with the reserve price set at $1,777,000, he withdrew interest, said Yim Kethy, bailiff at the court…

The two factories have been shuttered officially … after three months of work suspensions that followed a reduction in hours and withheld wages …

“Workers will be disappointed that there was no bidding … about 80 percent of us are in debt,” said Prum Chamroeun, one of about ten who turned up to witness the auction.

“What’s important is that it affects our family finances,” she said, adding that she needed to come up with $500 in loan repayments each month – more than double her monthly salary when the factory was in operation…

Phin Sophea, a representative for the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) at Dignity Knitter, where he has worked for 14 years, called for authorities to speed up the case for the sake of workers who were falling into debt they might never escape…