On 13 February 2019 the W & D garment factory in Phnom Penh announced that most of the 1,200 workers it had sacked in January following a dispute could return to work. However, it refused to take back 127 workers who had been blacklisted for allegedly “inciting” the industrial action. Most of the workers refused to return unless their blacklisted colleagues were also reinstated.
On 25 February over 1,000 workers marched from the garment factory to the Labour Ministry to demand that the government intervene to force the company to reinstate the 127 blacklisted workers.
On 18 March, Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) President Ath Thorn to stop urging garment workers to protest and demand indemnity payments. He made his remarks during a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh. “I appeal to Ath Thorn to tell your members to understand this issue and accept what is stated in the law,” Mr Hun Sen said.
The dispute ended on 28 March when the company agreed to reinstate more than 1,000 sacked workers. The firm said the workers’ seniority would be maintained but it would not offer pay and benefits for the period of the strike, which the strikers accepted. To his credit, the prime minister appealed to the company to take the workers back.
