As Nepal continues to recover from a 7.8-magnitude earthquake last month that killed more than 7,500 people, a Cambodian labour group is passing the hat for Nepalese union employees who are now out of work.

The Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) is collecting donations for the union members after they received solicitation letters from two Nepalese labour organisations, the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions and Nepal’s National Trade Union Congress, CLC president Ath Thorn said yesterday.

Thorn added that both CLC and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), of which he is also president, will donate funds from their own coffers as well.

“We have got letters from them; they are asking for immediate intervention for workers while this is happening . . . A lot of businesses will be closed and there will be no work to do,” Thorn said yesterday.

“We are committing money from the [C.CAWDU] union, [CLC] confederation and other people who will join us.”

While unsure of how much money they will be able to send to Kathmandu, Thorn said he felt compelled to give as much as possible.

“Some of the workers’ homes were destroyed, some have nothing to eat,” he said.