"NagaWorld Union Leader Defends Strike’s Legality on Day Two of Trial", 28 February 2023

…, the Phnom Penh municipal court prosecutor claimed union leader Chhim Sithar had been directing an illegal protest while Sithar maintained she was merely participating in a legal strike aligned with labor law.

Deputy prosecutor Seng Heang tried to frame the demonstrations as an individual dispute between Sithar and the company. He claimed her actions “held the company hostage” in an attempt to reinstate hundreds of laid off employees and receive other benefits. He argued Sithar was directing the union members to illegally protest and claimed they were no longer company employees and could not be considered legally striking…

Wearing an orange prison uniform, Sithar responded to questions for nearly three hours and disputed the prosecutor’s characterizations. She said that all other legal avenues for resolving the labor dispute had been exhausted and that she was a participant in a strike collectively organized by the union…

Defense lawyer Hong Sambath expressed disappointment in court that the prosecutor Seng Heang characterized the defendants’ actions as personal conflict and not part of a legal process in a labor dispute…

Ou Tep Phallin, head of the Cambodian Federation of Food and Service Workers’ Unions, told … that the NagaWorld union members were solely acting to resolve a labor dispute without actions intended to agitate or disturb society.

… Am Sam Ath, operations director at human rights NGO Licadho, called on the court to drop the incitement charges against the nine defendants. He said efforts should instead be made to resolve the labor dispute rather than prosecuting union members…