“Cambodia: Revise Union Law to Protect Worker Rights”, 17 Dec 2015
The Cambodian government should revise the draft trade union law submitted to the National Assembly to ensure it fully protects all workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said…
...The law contains extremely vague prohibitions against unions making it unlawful for them to act “contrary to public order,” to “cause trouble with the only objective of being of service to a political tendency,” or to “bring about a traffic jam.” Such provisions are easily open to arbitrary or politically-motivated interpretations by the courts that would infringe upon the rights to freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly, and should be removed from the draft…
The law stipulates that 50 percent plus one of workers must be present to even hold a general assembly, while a vote of only 50 percent plus one of members is required for the union itself to be dissolved. Both passages should be revised to ensure they will not open the way for anti-union application.
The draft provides no protections to Cambodia’s domestic and other informal workers, who are legally left highly vulnerable to exploitation and ill-treatment at work, including physical and sexual abuse. The law should be amended to include them.
The draft should also eliminate discriminatory residency and work longevity requirements to be applied against foreigners, violating their rights to become union leaders…
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