Four more former NagaWorld employees have agreed to accept severance payments and terminate their employment contracts, while 111 others are continuing to refuse compensation, according to a January 31 press release from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational training.
Ministry officials have verified that the severance payments offered by the integrated casino resort are in accordance with the laws related to redundancy.
The ministry’s National Employment Agency is prepared to assist the former employees as they search for new employment.
Moeun Tola, executive director of the Centre for Labour Alliances and Human Rights (CENTRAL), said the long delay to a resolution of the issue had forced some of the laid-off workers to accept compensation and end their labor dispute.
“Despite the fact that they are making a principled protest to secure the reinstatement of their union leaders, many of the workers have no choice but to accept the offered payments. Otherwise, they would have done so at the beginning of the dispute,” he said.
“It appears that the company was discriminating against the union, and the labour authority is not encouraging the firm to respect employees’ rights. The long delay in finding a solution certainly suggests that,” he added.
He said the mental pressure that strikers were under was immense. Aside from threats of violence and restrictions on their movement, he alleged that some of them were recently forced to freeze their bank accounts.
“If they cannot draw money or work, they will be unable to support themselves or their families,” he added.
