Labor
Labor policy and administration
Former Beehive workers protest over severance pay
Nine former employees of Beehive radio station protested in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to demand that owner Mam Sonando respect an Arbitration Council ruling that he pay them severance after firing them earlier this year. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/former-beehive-workers-protest-over-severance-pay-85372/
Unions eye wage discussion
Negotiations for next year’s minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment and footwear sector are already gearing up, as union leaders prepare to meet this month to discuss what wage they will demand. During the week of June 21, union heads will hold a preliminary consensus-building meeting, said ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-eye-wage-discussion
After talks, workers return to jobs at M&V garment factory
A weekslong strike by more than 2,000 workers from a Phnom Penh factory that supplies global fashion brand H&M ended Wednesday after unions scaled down their original demands and backed down over a condition that workers receive their full salaries for the strike period, representatives ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-talks-workers-return-to-jobs-at-mv-garment-factory-85362/
Illegal workers arrested in construction site raid
Seventeen Vietnamese construction workers were arrested and the passports of 142 Chinese construction workers confiscated when immigration officers raided a building site in Phnom Penh on Tuesday afternoon. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-workers-arrested-in-construction-site-raid-85293/
Police free garment workers locked in at night by factory
Police in Phnom Penh were called up Friday night to order a Chinese-owned garment factory to release a group of employees it had locked inside in a failed attempt to make them work late into the night, officials said Sunday. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-free-garment-workers-locked-in-at-night-by-factory-85157/
Strike order protested
About 50 striking garment workers representing more than 2,000 employees from M&V International Garment Factory yesterday gathered outside Phnom Penh Municipal Court where they submitted a letter demanding a court order prohibiting their industrial action be scrapped. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/strike-order-protested
Striking workers call for Phnom Penh court to revoke order
About 20 representatives for more than 2,000 striking workers—accused by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia of damaging the industry’s reputation—marched to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday asking it to revoke an injunction ordering them back to work. ...
Thai Rights body censures firm over Koh Kong sugar plantations
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has accused the country’s Khon Kaen Sugar of “serious human rights violations” at its two Cambodian plantations in a new report that urges the firm to return the land to the hundreds of families forced off their farms—some ...
Zsombor Peter and Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thai-rights-body-censures-firm-over-koh-kong-sugar-plantations-84968/
Rights workers want transparency in Qatar labor recruitment
Human rights activists are calling for more transparency in any potential agreement to send Cambodian workers to Qatar. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://bit.ly/1HLfbQr
Dozens of enslaved fishermen return home from Indonesia
A group of 38 fishermen returned to Cambodia on Tuesday after being rescued from forced labor in Indonesia. ...
Alex Consiglio and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/dozens-of-enslaved-fishermen-return-home-from-indonesia-84887/
Authorities probe shooting death of man in Thailand
A Cambodian migrant worker was shot dead by a Thai foreman at the construction site where he was working last week in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province, a border official said Sunday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/authorities-probe-shooting-death-of-man-in-thailand-82682/
Garment association re-elects chairman, approves term limit
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia re-elected Van Sou Ieng as chairman—a position he has held for nearly two decades—at its annual general meeting on Saturday but approved a new two-term limit on the two-year post. ...
IOM raising funds to return rescued fishermen
As 58 Cambodian fishermen rescued from slavery in Indonesia await their travel documents to return home, the intergovernmental body organizing their return is attempting to raise money to pay for their travel because the Cambodian government is not offering any funds for their repatriation. ...
Alex Consiglio and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/iom-raising-funds-to-return-rescued-fishermen-82532/
Union asks Japanese to examine ‘assaults’
A Cambodian labour union this week sent a letter to the Japanese Embassy, asking for help dealing with reported violence against workers at a Japanese-owned garment factory in Kampong Speu province. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-asks-japanese-examine-assaults
Union asks embassy to investigate factory
The Free Trade Union on Thursday submitted a letter to the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh requesting that embassy officials investigate a Japanese-owned garment factory in Kompong Speu province that it claims tried to intimidate a union representative late last year. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-asks-embassy-to-investigate-factory-82542/
City Hall considering May Day rally
Phnom Penh City Hall expressed uncertainty yesterday as to whether it would be able to allow a planned 3,000-person labour union rally on May 1, in observation of International Labour Day. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/city-hall-considering-may-day-rally
Workers at South Korean firm strike over demotions
More than 40 employees at a South Korean firm in Phnom Penh continued a two-week-old strike Tuesday over their demotions earlier in the month and have started to protest, the workers and company said. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/workers-at-south-korean-firm-strike-over-demotions-82347/
Firm told to repay clients
The Ministry of Labour has given a recruitment firm 45 days to repay clients who filed a complaint alleging the company collected their money but never delivered promised jobs in Japan. ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/firm-told-repay-clients
Rescued fishermen tell of enslavement, abuse
When Roeun Hen would try to take a break from his 20-hour shift trawling Indonesian waters for fish, his Thai captain would pummel him, kicking and punching the 29-year-old until he returned to work. ...
Alex Consiglio and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rescued-fishermen-tell-of-enslavement-abuse-81774/
Care lacking for victims: study
While mental health services are crucial to the recovery process for the Kingdom’s victims of human trafficking, stigma and limited resources remain a barrier in the provision of and access to those services, according to a new study published yesterday. The research, published in the International ...
Rebecca Moss
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/care-lacking-victims-study
58 Cambodians among slaves rescued in Indonesia
At least 58 Cambodians were among the more than 300 enslaved fishermen recently rescued from a remote island in Indonesia’s Maluku province, an intergovernmental migration body said Tuesday. ...
Alex Consiglio
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/58-cambodians-among-slaves-rescued-in-indonesia-81595/
In Cambodia, domestic workers get organized
Their ranks are small but growing, and they want their government to join an international labor treaty. “If we organize, we can help each other,” says a 25-year-old housekeeper who started working when she was 10 and earns $75 a month. ...
Kristi Eaton
http://womensenews.org/story/labor/150403/in-cambodia-domestic-workers-get-organized
Men enslaved in Indonesia rescued and repatriated
Nineteen Cambodian men were repatriated Sunday morning after being rescued by Indonesian authorities from slavery on Thai fishing boats, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong. ...
Ouch Sony
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/men-enslaved-in-indonesia-rescued-and-repatriated-81447/
Foreigners reminded to get their work permits
The head of the Interior Ministry’s general department of immigration issued a statement on Wednesday reminding foreigners working in Cambodia that they are required to hold a work permit—and will face fines if they do not. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/foreigners-reminded-to-get-their-work-permits-81328/