The National Trade Union Confederation (NTUC) is a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

federation in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

. The union is politically independent and not tied to government or opposition parties.

History

Far Saly formed NTUC in 2012. In 2015, NTUC protested at Siko Phnom Penh garment factory in Cambodia's capital against the dismissal of a warehouse chief for founding an NTUC branch in the factory. In 2016, NTUC condemned a proposal by

Sam Rainsy Sam Rainsy ( km, សម រង្ស៊ី, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; ; born 10 March 1949) is a Cambodian activist, economist and politician who most recently served as the Leader of the Opposition. He is now the interim leader of the Cambodia Nation ...

to the

European parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

to decrease garment imports from Cambodia in order to increase political pressure on the regime of

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...

. In that year, the union also stated its discontent with the way the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

had pushed through a new union law. NTUC claims to have had between 20,000 and 30,000 members around 2016, but that more repressive government attitudes towards trade unions shrank the number to 10,000 by 2018. In the early phase of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, NTUC appealed to the government to temporarily close down factories to stop the spread of the pandemic. In 2021, the union called on the government to cancel that year's

Cambodian New Year Cambodian New Year (or Khmer New Year; km, បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំខ្មែរ ), also known as Choul Chnam Thmey ( km, ចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ; ) and Moha Sangkranta ( km, មហាសង្ក្រាន្� ...

. In January of that year, NTUC president Far Saly was summoned for questioning by a court over allegations of defaming a Chinese factory owner's reputation.

References

{{Trade unions in Cambodia navbox Trade unions in Cambodia 2012 establishments in Cambodia Trade unions established in 2012 Labour relations in Cambodia