Solidarity Now with Cambodian Hotel Workers!

Posted to the IUF website 03-May-2004

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The IUF is calling for urgent action in solidarity with our affiliate in Cambodia, the Cambodian Tourism and Service Workers� Federation (CTSWF). Union members at 6 luxury hotels walked off the job for one week beginning on April 5 when employers unilaterally rejected government arbitration rulings instructing hotels to distribute 100 percent of hotel service charges to employees on a regular monthly basis (for full background information click here).

When the Cambodian Arbitration Council requested a return to work and negotiations under the auspices of the Council, hotel owners retaliated for the peaceful industrial action by sacking hundreds of union members. The retaliatory sackings are in violation of the April 22 interim order of the Cambodian Arbitration Council instructing employers to allow all workers to return to their jobs on April 23 and prohibiting them "from pursuing any action against their employees with regard to participation in the strike from 5-12 April 2004."

The service charge campaign is a major conflict for the young federation, which was formed in September last year. At issue is the employers' determination to unilaterally reject the collective bargaining process and impose on employees a massive loss of income in one of the world's poorest countries. Cambodia's GDP per capita is some USD 280. At the luxury hotels which are seeking to bust the union, peak season room rates for a single night can exceed annual GDP by several hundred dollars. The hotel unions are among the few organizations in Cambodia's young labour movement which have succeeded in gaining both recognition and collective bargaining agreements. The outcome of this struggle will have a major impact on unions' ability to win new members and influence conditions in Cambodia's growing tourism industry.

The Singapore-based Raffles hotel group (which also includes Swissotel) is leading the drive against the union. Raffles' two hotels - the Raffles Grand Hotel in Siem Riep and the Raffles Hotel Le Royale in Phnom Penh - have dismissed hundreds of workers and rejected participation in the government arbitration process. Raffles head Markland Blaiklock was quoted by the Financial Times as taking an aggressive line against rehiring union militants: "We know who is who", he told the paper. The Phnom Penh InterContinental and Sunway Hotels have likewise imposed mass dismissals.

We therefore urgently appeal for messages to be sent to the management of these hotels - the two Raffles units, Sunway and the InterContinental - demanding that all who took part in the legal industrial action of April 5-12 be immediately reinstated, and that management enter into good faith negotiations with the union under the aegis of the arbitration council to negotiate a solution to the issues at the heart of the conflict.

TO SEND A MESSAGE CLICK HERE!

Copies of your protest will automatically be sent to the IUF general and regional secretariat and to our affiliate in Cambodia. We thank you in advance for your solidarity and support.