Labor
Labor policy and administration
ILO seeks to raise attention on slavery
A new global treaty from the International Labour Organization (ILO) is calling on governments to step-up their commitment to tackling modern slavery in countries like Cambodia where forced labour remains endemic. ...
Zoe Holman
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ilo-seeks-raise-attention-slavery
Authorities threaten protesting unionists with crackdown
A police official in Kompong Speu province said Thursday that the military might confront garment workers protesting the arrests of two colleagues if they did not stop demonstrating outside provincial government buildings.Around 600 workers from the Hong Kong-owned Agile Sweater factory protested outside the provincial ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/authorities-threaten-protesting-unionists-with-crackdown-98060/
Workers arrested amid dispute between Unions
Two garment workers who broke away from the only union operating at their factory in Kompong Speu province in an attempt to provide workers an alternate choice for representation were charged Wednesday with a slew of crimes and are being held in provisional detention, officials ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-arrested-amid-dispute-between-unions-97867/
Unions make new demands as factories focus on productivity
Following the announcement earlier this month that the monthly minimum wage in the garment sector will be raised from $128 to $140 next year, eight unions representing factory workers issued a list of 13 demands on Tuesday, threatening protests if their requests go ignored. ...
Peter Ford and Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-make-new-demands-as-factories-focus-on-productivity-97876/
Deal struck for migrant workers
Thailand has agreed to relax enforcement against expired documents held by migrant Cambodians, which become invalid when they switch jobs without their previous employer’s written consent. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deal-struck-migrant-workers
Fire destroys factory; workers unharmed
A fire tore through a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on Monday evening, destroying more than half of the building and its inventory but injuring no workers, an official said Tuesday. ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fire-destroys-factory-workers-unharmed-97760/
Global brands welcome wage rise
Major global brands that source from Cambodia welcome the recent rise in the basic minimum wage for the country’s more than 700,000 garment workers, representatives of three brands told Khmer Times yesterday. They have no plans to shift sourcing to other countries where wages are ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16958/global-brands-welcome-wage-rise/
Employers want more productivity following wage hike
Factories in Cambodia’s garment industry say they need more productivity out of workers if they are to survive a new wage hike.Earlier this month, the government agreed to raise minimum wage to $140 per month, a figure managers said would damage the industry. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/employers-want-more-productivity-following-wage-hike/3015378.html
PM: Wage may be too high
After weeks of occasionally tumultuous negotiations saw 2016’s minimum wage for garment workers raised to $140 earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned yesterday that the new rate could cause factories to flee Cambodia, even though he was credited with personally intervening to push ...
Mom Kunthear and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-wage-may-be-too-high
Garment unions weigh protests
Garment workers unions unhappy with next year’s recently announced $140 minimum wage for the sector will meet this week to determine whether or not to hold demonstrations to protest the disappointingly low figure.The unions were pushing for $160 a month when the government announced the ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-unions-weigh-protests
Woman’s seizure prompts mass fainting at factory
Dozens of workers fainted at a garment factory in Kompong Chhnang province on Friday after seeing one of their colleagues have a seizure, which they feared was caused by an electric shock from her sewing machine, a police official said. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/womans-seizure-prompts-mass-fainting-at-factory-97082/
Garment sector minimum wage raised to $140
The government set the new monthly minimum wage for the country’s multibillion-dollar garment industry at $140 Thursday—up from $128—after months of tough negotiations that failed to bring employers and unions even close to a consensus. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garment-sector-minimum-wage-raised-to-140-97018/
ILO congratulates Cambodia’s consensus on workers’ monthly minimum wage
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has expressed its appreciation for Cambodia’s decision to increase the minimum wage of garment, textile and footwear workers to US$140 per month, according to an ILO’s statement received by the state news agency-AKP this afternoon. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/ilo-congratulates-cambodia%E2%80%99s-consensus-on-workers%E2%80%99-monthly-minimum-wage-9026
Compromise remains elusive in minimum wage negotiations
Factory and union representatives remain as far apart as ever over where to set next year’s minimum wage for garment workers, now at $128 per month, after hours of heated negotiations Wednesday and a vote that seemed to settle nothing. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/compromise-remains-elusive-in-minimum-wage-negotiations-96839/
Gov’t, factories, Unions to vote on minimum wage today
Government, factory and union representatives tasked with proposing a new monthly minimum wage for the garment sector will vote Wednesday to find a figure after once again failing to reach a consensus during negotiations in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-factories-unions-to-vote-on-minimum-wage-today-96684/
Deadline for wage negotiations missed; Labor Ministry to decide
The tripartite Labor Advisory Committee (LAC) on Monday missed its provisional deadline to decide on a new minimum wage for the garment sector, with employers and trade unions making little progress in coming to an agreement. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/deadline-for-wage-negotiations-missed-labor-ministry-to-decide-96513/
Cambodia holiday policy hampers competiveness
The Cambodian government just released its official list of public holidays for 2016, beating past years’ record by increasing the number of public holidays for 2016 to be 28 days notwithstanding when holidays fall on a weekend (Saturday-Sunday) the following Monday is off as compensation. ...
David Van
http://www.asiasentinel.com/econ-business/cambodia-holiday-policy-hampers-competiveness/
Seven released over selling factory goods to pay wages
Seven people who were arrested last week for attempting to sell merchandise from a factory in Kompong Speu province were released on Friday, officials said, with factory owners paying more than 100 workers part of the wages they were owed. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/seven-released-over-selling-factory-goods-to-pay-wages-96369/
Unions agree to reduce wage demands
As negotiations over a new minimum wage for the garment sector continued on Friday, union representatives agreed to temper their demands in exchange for concessions from manufacturers. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-agree-to-reduce-wage-demands-96334/
Three arrested over murder of garment worker
Three garment workers were arrested in Phnom Penh over the past two days for their alleged roles in the fatal stabbing of their colleague at his home on Monday night, officials said Wednesday. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-arrested-over-murder-of-garment-worker-96033/
Firm offers to find jobs for cheated migrants
A recruitment company has offered to help find employment in Thailand for a group of migrant workers who have accused another firm of cheating them out of hundreds of dollars each and leaving them at the Thai border last week, the company’s director said Wednesday. ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/firm-offers-to-find-jobs-for-cheated-migrants-96050/
Unions come to consensus on wage proposal
A disparate group of independent and pro-government trade unions on Tuesday agreed to make $168 their proposal for the garment sector’s new monthly minimum wage in ongoing negotiations with employers, bridging weeks of differences. ...
Khuon Narim and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-come-to-consensus-on-wage-proposal-95949/
Migrant workers demand passports, money
About 50 migrant workers who were part of a group that was abandoned at the Thai border by a recruitment agency last week gathered outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday to ask for the return of their passports and the fees they paid ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/migrant-workers-demand-passports-money-95967/
Recruiter’s assets seized by police
Police have seized property from a rented house in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district belonging to a recruitment firm that allegedly cheated money from some 100 Cambodians hoping to find work in Thailand. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/recruiters-assets-seized-police