Dear Editor,

I refer to the article in The Phnom Penh Post of January 20, "FTU vows boycott of Arbitration Council", which we feel seriously misrepresents GMAC’s position on the Arbitration Council.

By publishing a heavily edited version of our response to your questions on the FTU boycott of the Arbitration Council, you have taken an editorial position which we believe is incompatible with your role as a respected newspaper presenting the news in a fair and balanced fashion.

In our response to your questions, we clearly explained that many of the cases forwarded to the Arbitration Council were mainly disputes on benefits neither stipulated in the law nor in collective agreements. Such cases do not fit within the council’s mandate to rule. So for anybody to cry foul when the council declines to consider those points is disingenuous and shows a lack of understanding of the role mandated for the council. Benefit disputes, such as demands for higher wages, more bonuses, etc, shall be resolved between management and workers at individual factories, because the council doesn’t own the money. The council does have the full mandate to rule regarding disputes about rights.

Your selective editing of our statement, presumably for reasons of space, appears to be a serious lapse in editorial judgement that resulted in the misrepresention of GMAC’s position and undermined our valid and concerted efforts to ensure the proper mechanisms are in place within our industry to address worker grievances and complaints.

Kaing Monika

Deputy secretary-general

Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC)

Send letters to: [email protected] or PO Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length. The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.