Labour Day march to go ahead despite the ban.
Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 10:39 am
Unions Plan for Thousands to Join Banned Labor Day March
May 1, 2017
Thousands of workers will once again defy government orders and march through central Phnom Penh this morning to mark International Labor Day, the president of one of Cambodia’s largest independent labor unions said on Monday.
Late last month, City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey said the plans to march about 3,000 people from near the offices of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) to the National Assembly would not be allowed to go ahead because it would cause traffic chaos. He told the unions to keep their events confined to their offices or any other private address.
But Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said on Monday that he and 18 other union leaders were determined to try, convinced they were within their rights to make the march. The route of nearly 3 km will take them along the riverside.
“We won’t be demonstrating; we just want to celebrate Labor Day. But even demonstrating is allowed by law,” he said. “We are union representatives; we understand the law.”
The Law on Peaceful Assembly only requires that the organizers of a public event notify authorities of their plans. It lets those authorities stop those plans only if they fall on certain national holidays—Labor Day is not included—or if they have “clear information” that an event will “cause danger” or might “seriously jeopardize security.”
In the case of a rejection, the authorities and organizers are supposed to “discuss solutions” and, should they fail to find one, let the Interior Ministry make a final decision.
During Labor Day last year the unions were similarly told not to make the nearly identical march. They attempted a modified route anyway, making it to a few hundred meters from the National Assembly before they were blocked by police. Just shy of their target, they decided to carry on their rally where they were.
Mr. Thorn said they would do the same this year.
“If they block us, we will do it at that spot,” he said…
Full article: https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unio ... ch-128928/
May 1, 2017
Thousands of workers will once again defy government orders and march through central Phnom Penh this morning to mark International Labor Day, the president of one of Cambodia’s largest independent labor unions said on Monday.
Late last month, City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey said the plans to march about 3,000 people from near the offices of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) to the National Assembly would not be allowed to go ahead because it would cause traffic chaos. He told the unions to keep their events confined to their offices or any other private address.
But Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said on Monday that he and 18 other union leaders were determined to try, convinced they were within their rights to make the march. The route of nearly 3 km will take them along the riverside.
“We won’t be demonstrating; we just want to celebrate Labor Day. But even demonstrating is allowed by law,” he said. “We are union representatives; we understand the law.”
The Law on Peaceful Assembly only requires that the organizers of a public event notify authorities of their plans. It lets those authorities stop those plans only if they fall on certain national holidays—Labor Day is not included—or if they have “clear information” that an event will “cause danger” or might “seriously jeopardize security.”
In the case of a rejection, the authorities and organizers are supposed to “discuss solutions” and, should they fail to find one, let the Interior Ministry make a final decision.
During Labor Day last year the unions were similarly told not to make the nearly identical march. They attempted a modified route anyway, making it to a few hundred meters from the National Assembly before they were blocked by police. Just shy of their target, they decided to carry on their rally where they were.
Mr. Thorn said they would do the same this year.
“If they block us, we will do it at that spot,” he said…
Full article: https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unio ... ch-128928/