[2] C.CAWDU's initial recruitment efforts were met with fierce resistance at some factories, with instances of union leaders beaten[2] and arrested.
[3] In February 2006, Chhorn Sokha, who by this time was serving as vice president of C.CAWDU, was expelled from the union over allegations that she had accepted a US$2,500 bribe from Minister of Social Affairs, Ith Samheng.
[18] In late December 2013, C.CAWDU was amongst seven trade union federations who sent a letter to the Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia (GMAC) threatening a strike of up to 250,000 workers if their demand for a minimum wage of US$160 per month was not met within a week.
[21] However, C.CAWDU abandoned its plans for continued wide-scale strikes following the deaths of four protestors on 3 January 2014 who were shot and killed by Cambodian soldiers.
[23] The complaint accused the three C.CAWDU leaders of having stolen US$92,929 from workers as part of a settlement related to an industrial dispute at E-Garment factory in 2007 and 2008.
[25] Whilst the three leaders denied having embezzled the money, Um Visal held a press conference calling on them to resign from their positions.
[26] Visal and Chanthan later sought an injunction to force Thorn to step down as C.CAWDU president while under investigation for embezzlement, however this request was rejected by the court.
In March 2015, C.CAWDU was hit with further embezzlement allegations when dozens of former workers from Chang Sheng Garment factory protested in front of the union's office.