"Unions Plan Wider Strikes to Support Naga Workers Amid Incitement Accusations", 25 July 2022

Unions are planning strikes ... in the food industry and the country’s factories in support of the long-running NagaWorld labor dispute, a unionist said ... after authorities accused her and another of Cambodia’s prominent union leaders of incitement.

Near-daily protests against the Phnom Penh casino’s alleged union busting — which began ... — again turned violent three days ago.

Terminated worker Pov Reaksmey said she was struck in the face ... and fell to the road while she and other protesters tried to walk up to NagaWorld. They went around barricades set up by police, leading to shoving between authorities and protesters, she said.

“I am not feeling very well. My body hurts. My face is bruised,” Reaksmey said.

A day later ..., Phnom Penh City Hall issued a statement that the protesters had been incited by two outside unionists to topple the barricades. The protest remains illegal and is disrupting public order and the city’s image, City Hall said.

“There was open participation and actions from some people who are not workers or former workers, especially Vorn Pov and Yang Sophorn who incited protesters to anger,” the statement said.

Sophorn is president of the garment factory-focused Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, and Pov heads the informal workers’ Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association.

Pov said ... that City Hall’s accusation was baseless. “I didn’t incite in any way,” Pov said. “They’re saying it without evidence. I was just an observer standing apart from them and not involved.”...