Another 180 NagaWorld workers arrested during strikes

Cambodian officers have arrested another 180 NagaWorld employees who were striking in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia.- Past and present NagaWorld workers continue strike action, and police in Phnom Penh have arrested another 180. Security officials took the striking workers to an isolation centre on the outskirts of the city for quarantine arguing that they had breached Covid-19 health protocols.

NagaWorld employees went on strike on December 18 2021 in protest against NagaCorp’s layoffs and pay cuts that aimed to improve cost efficiency due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Government-mediated negotiations with the casino operator failed to bear fruit.

On January, 15 NagaWorld workers were arrested after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court declared the strike illegal. Authorities have even claimed the strike is being backed by foreign donors in an attempt to overthrow the government. Police later arrested more than 100 striking workers at the casino complex.

Meach Srey Oun told Radio Free Asia: “The company tried to turn our dispute with the company over to the authorities, even though we, the workers, had a dispute with the employers only, not with the authorities.”