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Article

7 Feb 2018

Author:
Ben Sokhean & Ananth Baliga, Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen says no need to set labour courts; suggests ‘candy’ could solve fainting among factory workers

 "Hun Sen says no need for labour courts, proposes solution to mass faintings", 7 February 2018

Prime Minister Hun Sen…said there is in fact no need to set up labour courts to solve workplace disputes – despite the Labour Law stipulating their creation – and expressed hope that existing mechanisms, including the government, unions and employers could act in their place.

…The premier said labour disputes should be resolved through compromises…having a court system, he continued, would effectively create “losers”.

Hun Sen also addressed longstanding cases of mass fainting at factories…saying…unspecified pills, which he also referred to as “candy”, could solve this problem.

“They should use pills or candy to protect against any poisonous substances, because in the past when we were in the armed forces and we had any suspicious [symptoms], we often had a candy”….

Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said the premier was hoping all involved parties could use nonconfrontational methods, mediation and arbitration to solve factory disputes.

Labour rights activist Moeun Tola and William Conklin, country director for the Solidarity Center, said attempts should be made to make Arbitration Council rulings binding or enforced by courts. Currently they are binding only if both parties agree to it beforehand.