"PM: Stop firing workers as way to end disputes", 21 February 2019

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on factory owners to stop dismissing workers as a way to end disputes...

“I call on all factory owners to not use dismissal in disputes. Dialogue between factory owners, unions and worker representatives is really the best way,” he told ...

“Factory owners need to pay attention to the welfare of workers. Workers have good health but we must also pay attention to improving their education . . . Factory owners also need to remember that without workers they would not be factory owners, but merely the owners of warehouses...

If a worker was sacked for a criminal matter, he said, the courts should deal with it, but in labour disputes, staff should not be fired, but dialogue opened and educational measures taken...

Srey Neang, who is among the 1,000 sacked by the W&D Factory and is involved in the protest, said following the prime minister’s comments that she hoped a solution could be found and she would soon be re-employed...

Ken Loo, the secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), declined to comment ...

National Union Alliance Chamber of Cambodia (NACC) president Som Aun welcomed Hun Sen’s call, saying that in the past, many workers had been dismissed for a range of reasons, including those that appeared discriminatory...

Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training spokesman Heng Sour and Kaing Monika, deputy general-secretary of GMAC, could not be reached for comment...