Evaluation report of Building and Wood Workers International BWI/BWTUC, Cambodia

As of November 2011, BWTUC has 12 affiliate unions and three community-based unions in Siem Reap with a total membership of 2,189, with 567 or 26% of whom are female. The membership consists of 56% from building; 12% from building materials; 23% from wood and the other 8% from forestry. In terms of number of dues paying members, only 576 members pay dues out of the total 2,189 members or about 25% of total membership. The location of BWTUC affiliate unions are in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Kampot. BWTUC emerged from the merger of two key constructions unions in the country namely the Cambodia Construction Trade Union Federation (CCTUF), based in Siem Reap and the Cambodia Federation of Building and Woodworkers (CFBW) based in Phnom Penh. Five (5) independent construction unions affiliated with the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) also joined the BWTUC.

The merger between CCTUF and CFBW to establish the BWTUC in 2009 is unprecedented and highly regarded as progress in the trade union movement of Cambodia. The emergence of BWTUC has been considered a model for trade union consolidation and a method to strengthen the trade union movement in the country. After three years of merger, the BWTUC is inundated with problems including diminishing membership, leadership conflict, and skills and knowledge deficit to develop 2nd line leadership potential to implement organizing, negotiation and advocacy-campaign roles of the union.

The union federation is currently facing internal leadership conflict when on 13 November 2011, the majority of the Board of Directors decided to suspend the BWTUC President Sok Sovandeth. The internal conflict seems to emanate from lack of clarity on the roles and functions of the leadership structure and tension on decision-making powers between the key leaders of the union. There are still remnants of personalistic and economic opportunistic styles of leadership which needs to be addressed within the organization. At the local union level, workers’ knowledge remains limited as to what union is all about and what its members should/could expect from the union. In terms of education activities, BWTUC mainly conducts basic labor orientation and para-legal workshops for its members. While these types of workshops need to be continued, advanced skills trainings in leadership, union administration, financial management and education trainings are needed to enhance the knowledge and skills of the leadership and members.

Results on key evaluation areas:
a. Relevance - In terms of relevance, the project support of LO-Norway from 2006 up until 2011 has been crucial in the formation and achievements of BWTUC. Through these years, the project goals and objectives has adapted to the changing dynamics and development of its partner unions namely the CCTUF and CFBW until both merged into what is now known as the BWTUC. However, new challenges emerged especially on consolidation problems within the organization. On this note, the project support should focus further in deepening knowledge and skills of the leadership especially in clarifying their role and functions within the organizational structure; and the project to encourage the formulation of a conflict/dispute resolution mechanism and regulations to address intra- and inter-union conflicts.
b. Effectiveness – the project has achieved its objectives to an extent that the merger has happened and transition is going at a satisfactory pace despite the transition pains. BWTUC’s activities in defending construction workers from dismissals and unfair labor practice have been very effective. The support to the workers can range from legal support, negotiation for better conditions to provision of additional education on labor rights and skills. To take advantage of the gains of the project on BWI/BWTUC, it is recommended to: continue capacity building activities for the key leaders (executive and board of directors) in the organization especially on project and financial management, communication and conflict resolution; intensify political and trade education for memberships to deepen commitment and understanding of members on unionism; and develop potential 2nd line leaders on skills and knowledge on unionism and political leadership roles.
c. Efficiency – in terms of the efficient deployment of financial and human resources for the BWTUC project, this report raises three points: (1) it is important to ensure the efficient deployment of the full time (4) organizers-educators and 3 assistant organizers supported by the project; there is high level of underspent funds from 2009-2011 of almost 50% which means there is a problem in the absorptive capacity of the union to utilize the budget proposed and given; and the percentage share of administrative cost versus project activity cost is positive with 1/3 of budget is allocated to administration expenses and 2/3 allocated to activities. It is recommended to (1) make ensure that the regular or mid-year financial statements are considered during the planning to realign the budget; (2) need for more financial management training and budgeting that takes into account the re-alignment of funds to ensure cost-efficient utilization of funds; and (3) clarify and regularly monitor the outputs of organizers on a weekly or monthly basis. Since the executive officers perform dual roles, as political leaders and project organizers, their tasks and roles need to be clarified. The political tasks of the executive officers should also compensate or balance their organizing tasks.
d. Sustainability and organizational development – the sustainability plan discussed in 2009 were more about projections and scenarios on increased membership and dues payment. The low dues-payment will not be able to cover the operational costs of the organization in the next few years. Hence, the BWTUC need to craft a new sustainability strategy that would take into account the peculiarity of the industry with majority project-based workers. It is immediately recommended to (1) conduct a strategic planning workshop that includes as its core topic the discussion on sustainability as well as the trajectory of BWTUC in the next 5-10 years; and (2) conduct feasibility studies on possible sustainability projects for further discussion.
e. External impact - BWTUC is considered as actively participating in advocacy and campaign at the local and national levels where they can influence policy and decision making related to labor disputes and workers’ interest. BWTUC’s recent affiliation to CLC secured its key role in the larger Cambodian labor movement. The CLC, as the most independent labor formation in the country, maintains linkages with international organizations such as the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), the ILO and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). This report recommends: (1) continue networking and advocacy campaign initiatives of BWTUC at the national, regional and international levels on the following major issues: minimum wages, social protection, freedom of association and OSH; and (2) show a strong commitment for unifying forces within the construction union movement to combine forces to promote and protect construction workers’ rights.
f. Gender, safety and health – the gender peculiarity of the construction industry in Cambodia is such that the proportion of women and men construction workers is almost 1:1. However, unionization is very low among women and wage discrimination between male and female construction workers exists. At the BWTUC, women participation in leadership positions remains below the mandated 40% and there is a lack of gender-sensitive seminars/workshops implemented in the organization’s education program. It is recommended that BWTUC to (1) consciously meet the requirements of women participation in the BWTUC leadership; (2) widely conduct gender-sensitivity training programs for the leadership and membership of BWTUC; and (3) stress the inclusion of informal workers in the OSH Prakas being deliberated at the national level.
g. Other findings: Relation between BWI and BWTUC -The organizational relations between the BWI and BWTUC seem to be unclear for some leaders and local union members. There seems to be a lack of guiding policy documents such as financial management policy for the operation of the union work. During the fieldwork, it is observed that questions of autonomy and ownership arose from the BWTUC in terms of determining project activities, financial management and project decision-making. Furthermore, during the focused-group discussion with BWTUC members, majority are unaware of the nature of BWI as a union. BWI is commonly perceived as a donor organization that provides financial and technical assistance to the union. It is therefore recommended on this section the following: (1) It is important for BWTUC political leadership to lead in organizing, negotiation and in the defense of workers’ rights in the construction industry; (2) the BWI has the capacity to provide political guidance, technical assistance in workers’ education and coordinate the BWTUC leadership with the BWI at the regional and international levels. The BWI coordinator in Cambodia needs to perform these significant roles; (3) emphasize the role of BWI as a global union in the basic trade union workshops with the workers; and (4) communication between the BWI and BWTUC leadership needs to be strengthened and enhanced with due respect to the autonomy and democratic processes and/or debates within the BWTUC.