VZCZCXRO2757
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #1461/01 2290853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170853Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7161
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1523
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 001461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, DRL/IL--MARK MITTELHAUSER, AND 
EAP/TPP/ABT THOMAS LERSTEN 
LABOR FOR ILAB--JIM SHEA AND JONA LAI 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR--BARBARA WEISEL AND DAVID BISBEE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM CB
SUBJECT: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LEADING CAMBODIAN UNION 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 1264 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  Several significant events related to the 
Free Trade Union (FTU), Cambodia's most important 
pro-opposition union, occurred during the month-long hiatus 
in minimum wage negotiations between unions and garment 
manufacturers.  The FTU formed a new confederation with 
long-time partner, the Cambodian Independent Teachers' 
Association (CITA).  The FTU has also joined an effort led by 
the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) -- a long-time 
supporter of the labor movement -- to organize rubber 
workers, a sector currently represented only by a 
pro-government union.  Three FTU officials from one factory 
were convicted of illegal confinement and sentenced to time 
served and probation.  End Summary. 
 
Free Trade Union and Teachers Association Confederate 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (U)  Cambodia's two largest pro-opposition unions, the FTU 
and CITA established a new confederation, the Cambodian 
Confederation of Unions (CCU), on August 6.  CITA and the FTU 
will remain separate organizations with separate leadership, 
but hope that the new confederation will allow for even 
closer cooperation and greater influence. 
 
¶3. (U)  FTU President Chea Mony has been notably absent from 
labor activities over the past several weeks, spending his 
time in his home province seeking treatment for tuberculosis 
and typhoid.  Some labor observers had speculated that the 
confederation was a way of shoring up the FTU leadership 
given Chea Mony's ailing health.  However, Rong Chhun, CITA 
President and Chea Mony's confidante, told Poleconoff on 
August 11 that in fact the new confederation had been planned 
for months and was originally going to include two other 
unions -- the Cambodian Tourism Service Workers Federation 
(CTSWF) and the Cambodian Coalition of Apparel Workers 
Democratic Union (CCAWDU).  When increased labor unrest and 
FTU's threatened general strike delayed the formation of the 
planned confederation, CTSWF, CCAWDU, and two smaller unions 
went ahead and formed their own group -- the Cambodian Labor 
Confederation. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The new CCU confederation may run into registration 
problems stemming from its inclusion of both private sector 
workers, who are entitled to unionize under Cambodian labor 
law, and teachers, who are considered public servants and are 
not allowed to unionize.  In June, the Ministry of Labor and 
Vocational Training (MOLVT) refused to register the Cambodian 
Labor Confederation, arguing that the civil servants and 
informal sector workers represented by two of the constituent 
groups were not entitled to form unions under Cambodia's 
Labor Law, and as such must register as associations with the 
Ministry of the Interior.  Rong Chhun told Poleconoff that he 
hopes to avoid this problem by attempting to register with 
the Ministry of the Interior, but the Ministry of Interior 
may well claim that it has no authority to register 
organizations that include unions. 
 
Village Leaders Disrupt Attempt to Organize Rubber Workers 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶5. (U)  Sam Rainsy Party senior official Mu Sochua is leading 
an effort to bring rubber plantation workers, a group 
currently represented only by the pro-CPP Cambodian 
Federation of Independent Trade Unions (CFITU), into 
pro-opposition unions.  An August 12, a SRP-led gathering of 
about 40 workers at the Chamcar Angduong rubber plantation in 
Kampong Cham province was disrupted when the village chief 
ordered Mu Sochua's microphone turned off, played loud music 
to drown out the discussion, and cursed the workers.  Ten 
local police officers stood by but did not intervene.  About 
half of the assembled workers left, but the remaining workers 
reassembled a short distance from the original site and 
talked with Rong Chhun and FTU Vice President Sam Srey Mom 
about the labor law and the role of unions, finally deciding 
to organize. 
 
FTU Leaders Convicted 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  On August 7, three factory-level FTU leaders from 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001461  002 OF 002 
 
 
Genuine garment factory were convicted of illegal confinement 
and sentenced to time served plus three years probation. 
(Note:  While misdemeanor charges, like destruction of 
property, are a common method of harassing union leaders, 
post believes that this is the first time that unionists have 
been convicted of a felony.  End Note.)  The three were 
charged with using a barricade to confine garment factory 
managers during a labor dispute (reftel).  While the 
barricade and the related strike were illegal, the managers 
admitted to Poleconoff on July 6 that in fact they had never 
actually been confined. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  FTU leader Chea Mony and Genuine factory owner 
Okhna Sheang Chanheng agreed on July 6 that the union would 
remove the illegal blockade in exchange for the charges 
against the workers being dropped and the workers released by 
July 10.  The workers immediately removed the blockade.  As 
the workers remained in jail past the July 10 deadline, the 
embassy repeatedly reminded Sheang Chanheng of her agreement, 
which had been brokered with embassy encouragement.  The 
factory owner claimed to have little influence over the 
courts and to be running into bureaucratic obstacles in 
getting the workers released. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  While the threatened general strike that propelled 
Cambodia's largest pro-opposition union into the headlines 
receded from attention for several weeks, there have been 
other major developments within the FTU.  The FTU-CITA 
confederation institutionalizes the close relationship 
between the two unions' leaders, and, whether in the works 
for months or not, coincides with the withdrawal of Chea Mony 
from an active union leadership role.  The SRP is likely to 
continue greater efforts to work closely with labor unions 
with the approach of elections; Mu Sochua has specifically 
carved out a role as the party official in charge of union 
liaison.  Kampong Cham is one province with strong SRP 
workers at the grassroots level, and one of the most activist 
SRP parliamentarians (Mao Monyvann).   End Comment. 
MUSSOMELI