Suntex

The WRC has conducted emergency assessments at Ocean Sky factories, including Bright Sky, Suntex and Rainbow Screen Printing in Cambodia following violent attacks against prominent union figures. The President of Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) was brutally attacked by a group of men with an iron pipe and sticks and has faced additional attacks. Regardless of whether this violence is perpetrated with the support of factory management it has an incredibly chilling effect on workers’ ability to exercise their associational rights. To prevent further violence, the WRC recommended that Bright Sky management terminate an employee that had been threatening workers and recommended that management improve the security around the entrance to the factory to ensure the safety of workers leaving the factory after dark. While the management did implement these changes and violence subsided during this period, in August the management unlawfully invalidated the contracts of 650 permanent employees. In response to management’s unlawful cancellation of work contracts the union went on strike and the factory was seized by an outburst of violence perpetrated in part by the police. The WRC continues to seek assistance from buyers and is in ongoing communication with factory management.

Read More:

• WRC Factory Assessment Update – December 19, 2006
• WRC Case Summary re Bright Sky, Suntex, and Rainbow Screen Printing – July 19, 2006