Labor
Labor policy and administration
Thais mandate migrant worker health checks
On the road to legal employment in Thailand, Cambodian migrant workers are being made to undergo check-ups that have them cough, strip and give blood and urine samples to prove they are physically and mentally sound enough to work in the country. Obtaining a workers’ permit, ...
Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/thais-mandate-migrant-worker-health-checks
Cintri drivers strike for second time this year
Phnom Penh’s trash collectors have again gone on strike over salaries and conditions in a move that could see them stop clearing the city’s streets of garbage for an extended period for the second time this year. About 100 employees of the waste disposal firm Cintri ...
Ben Sokhean and Holly Robertson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cintri-drivers-strike-for-second-time-this-year-63462/
‘Abused’ maid awaits return
Woman who was taking part in a pilot scheme to place Cambodian maids in Singapore is waiting to be repatriated after being molested at her employers home and allegedly mistreated by a recruitment firm, she said yesterday. Nation’s managing director, Gary Chin, rejected those claims ...
Sen David and Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98abused%E2%80%99-maid-awaits-return
Workers continue strike over change to pay day
About 1,000 workers from the Canteran factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district continued to strike on Saturday over a decision to push back the day they are paid. The workers have been on strike since Thursday after being told they will be paid on the 10th ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-continue-strike-over-change-to-pay-day-63314/
Mining accidents kill two
Two artisanal miners died and one was seriously injured in two separate accidents on Saturday, police said yesterday. One man was killed and one sustained serious injuries while working for a Chinese mining company at Kbal Damrei commune in Kratie province’s Sambor district. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mining-accidents-kill-two
Bus company to reject workers' win
The general manager of Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation bus company says he will likely reject a Friday ruling by the Arbitration Council ordering the reinstatement of 15 employees fired for trying to form a labour union. Sorya Transportation general manager Chan Sophanna yesterday said he had ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bus-company-reject-workers-win
Maids forced into debt bondage in Singapore
In August last year, the government launched a pilot project that sent 220 women to work as maids in Singapore, the first major effort to open up a new market for Cambodia’s domestic workers after the government halted sending maids to Malaysia due to persistent ...
Matt Blomberg and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/maids-forced-into-debt-bondage-in-singapore-63194/
ILO says shaming factories leading to improved standards
Naming and shaming factories that fail to ensure a basic standard of conditions for their workers is starting to improve standards in the crucial garment sector, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), but persistent offenders remain. Nine factories are included in the “lowest compliance” category ...
Holly Robertson and Sun Heng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ilo-says-shaming-factories-leading-to-improved-standards-63202/
Workers protest at Siem Reap’s Ta Prohm temple
Sixty restoration workers at Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap province put down their tools Thursday and protested in front of the temple alongside 31 former workers who lost their jobs last year and are demanding to be rehired by the Archaeological Survey of India ...
Sek Odom and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-protest-at-siem-reaps-ta-prohm-temple-63212/
Labor committee details schedule for wage talks: report
The Labor Advisory Committee has asked unions and employers to start separate internal talks on wages this month under a schedule it approved in June, an industry source says. In a report late Wednesday, Fibre2fashion.com said the 28-member committee had agreed that the talks would be ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MzMxODViNmRhMzh
200 workers protest against forced overtime
About 200 workers from the Chinese-owned Pollysa (Cambodia) Home Textile factory in Sihanoukville protested Wednesday against the overtime they were being forced to work and the firing of 20 employees earlier this week who refused the extra hours, workers and a union representative said. Starting at ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/200-factory-workers-protest-against-forced-overtime-63085/
Workers win seniority pay
A six-month standoff that eventually halted a box factory’s production ended on Friday, when managers of the factory in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district paid seniority bonuses to almost 150 former employees. Harta Packaging Industries paid bonuses of between $500 and $4,000 to a total ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-win-seniority-pay
Workers faint en masse at coat factory in Bavet
Nearly 50 workers fainted on Saturday at a coat factory in the Tai Seng Special Economic Zone in Bavet City, Svay Rieng, a factory representative said Sunday. The incident was precipitated by one worker who fainted because she was already sick, setting off a chain reaction ...
Hay Pisey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-faint-en-masse-at-coat-factory-in-bavet-62748/
‘Enough jobs’ here, but lure of Thailand abides
As Thailand today opens another fast-track visa office along the border in the hope of reversing the ongoing exodus of workers, Cambodia continues clamouring to find jobs for the returning migrants. The Ministry of Labour remained adamant yesterday that there are enough open positions in the ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98enough-jobs%E2%80%99-here-lure-thailand-abides
Thai junta to fast-track visas for Cambodians
Thailand’s military government has announced plans to fast-track work visas for thousands of Cambodians after a crackdown on illegal workers. Three temporary offices have been set up along the Thai-Cambodian border where migrants will have their work permits processed. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/thai-junta-fast-track-visas-cambodians
ILO launches fifth round of radio competition
The International Labor Organisation launched Friday the fifth round of a radio competition to promote understanding of the Cambodian labor law among garment workers. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZmFlZmE0MjIwMDQ
Factory reopens amid strike
A packaging factory is back in business, opening its doors after about 200 former employees stopped blocking shipments, which they had been doing since Saturday. Factory management at Harta Packaging Industries acquiesced to a negotiation session with the group, which has been protesting against the company ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-reopens-amid-strike
Over 250,000 Cambodian migrant workers flee Thailand in fears of junta's crackdown: PM
More than 250,000 Cambodian migrant workers, mostly undocumented, have fled Thailand since early this month in fears of a military junta’s clampdown on illegal foreign workers, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday. “Up to now, over 250,000 Cambodians have crossed the border from Thailand back ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-06/26/c_133439662.htm
Ocean Garment to stay shuttered until July 9
A garment factory will prolong its monthlong closure until at least July 9, when the Arbitration Council Foundation rules on a case brought by its workers. ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ocean-garment-stay-shuttered-until-july-9
Ocean reps take case to arbitration
Twenty representatives of workers locked in a monthlong dispute with management at the Ocean Garment factory appeared before the Arbitration Council yesterday, a union official said. A spokesman from the Arbitration Council yesterday told the Post that such cases are typically sorted out within 15 working days. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ocean-reps-take-case-arbitration
Six unions call for pay, acquittals
Union leaders made another appeal for the Cambodian government to raise the minimum wage to $160 and rescind convictions of 25 workers arrested during deadly demonstrations in November and January. ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/six-unions-call-pay-acquittals
Big queues for $4 passport
A sub-decree aimed at stemming the massive influx of mostly undocumented Cambodian migrant workers returning from Thailand with a drastically reduced passport fee already appears to be generating an overwhelming response. Yesterday, an estimated 200 workers lined up outside the Battambang provincial passport office to get ...
Chhay Channyda and Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/big-queues-4-passport
Half-year protest shutters factory
A six-month protest over unpaid bonuses has seen production at a Por Sen Chey district box factory grind to a halt over the past four days, with more than 200 former employees blocking gates and preventing shipments. Former employees at Harta Packaging Industries began barricading gates ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/half-year-protest-shutters-factory
Illegal workers arrested, face Thai court
Thai authorities have arrested and are preparing to try 13 Cambodian migrant workers who were allegedly caught with fake stamps on their work papers as they tried to return home, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed on Friday. The government also announced a plan to subsidize ...
Khy Sovuthy and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-workers-arrested-face-trial-in-thailand-62059/