"Workers from shuttered factories petition Kandal court for pay", 14 July 2020

More than 200 workers from the shuttered Dignity Knitter and Eco Base factories in Kandal province’s Takhmao City marched to deliver a petition to the provincial court … after going without pay and benefits for nearly seven months. 

The workers walked more than10 kilometers from the factories to the provincial court in Takhmao City but were stopped about 500 meters from the courthouse by provincial authorities including Governor Kong Sophorn, who promised to help them with their case.

Phin Sophea, a Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) representative who was employed at Dignity Knitter factory for 14 years before the company suspended operations in March, said the group had received a positive response from officials…

After closing, Dignity Knitter factory and Eco Base factory promised to compensate employees for their months of back pay, plus half pay in the months following the suspension in March, according to union representatives employed there.

Provincial Governor Sophorn confirmed he had received the petition to dissolve the court’s injunction and promised the workers that he would help resolve the case…

“Representatives of the company announced that the company is bankrupt which is why government lawyers could file a new complaint on behalf of the workers, ” Sophorn said…

Leng Srey, 45, a CCAWDU representative at the Eco Base factory who had also worked there for 14 years, said that former employees at the factory had all been facing extreme difficulty due to their lack of income…