Labor

German sportwear maker Puma sent officials to investigate working conditions in Cambodia after a local woman working for one of its suppliers was shot during a labour protest on Monday. The woman, who was employed by Kaoway Sports, was shot during a protest by employees of ...

Child labour was draining the Kingdom’s brainpower and adversely affecting 750,000 of its children, officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday. Speaking at a three-day conference on child agricultural labour, Kaing Khim, deputy director-general of fisheries administration at the MAFF, said ...

The Arbitration Council yesterday ordered protesting workers in Kampong Cham province to return to their factory today, as a union official reported that their numbers had swelled to nearly 3,000 outside the provincial hall in their third demonstration this week over an ongoing labour dispute. Free ...

Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony said yesterday that he has split from longtime colleague Rong Chhun by stepping down from his position in the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU). Mr. Mony said he had resigned on Friday from his position as Secretary-General of the ...

The foreign owner of a luxury Siem Reap hotel has sued four workers he sacked last year, alleging they damaged his property during protests in which they accused him of firing them for unionising. In total, 67 workers were sacked last year by Ankor Village Hotel ...

More than 1000 factory workers protested in Phnom Penh yesterday outside the Sun Well Shoes Company factory in Pur Senchey district, demanding higher wages and the dismissal of the factory’s administration chief, union representatives said. Tep Saroeun, a union representative at Sun Well Shoes Company in ...

Low wages and a lack of occupational health and safety measures led to a mass fainting on Tuesday at a Phnom Penh garment factory that produces clothes for well-known brands Wal-Mart, Target and Reebok, according to a statement released by the Community Legal Education Center ...

Thailand has appealed to Cambodia to send more migrant workers to the country due to a high demand for labor following last year’s devastating floods, while Cambodia has in turn asked that Thailand render the migration process safer, speedier and cheaper, Choub Narth, deputy director ...

Buoyed by strong demand from the economies of Europe and North America, the total amount of garment, shoe and textile exports that left Cambodia last year was on target to surpass the $4 billion mark, dwarfing 2010’s total of $2.88 billion, the Garment Manufacturers Association ...

After a year of mounting concern over the treatment of migrant workers both within and outside Cambodia, the Ministry of Labor, NGOs and recruitment agencies yesterday reached an agreement on standardized contracts aimed at minimizing the possibility for exploitation. The groups agreed on a contract between ...

Union leaders are calling for 10 changes to be made to the draft law that will regulate them, including allowing civil servants to form unions, they said yesterday, following a letter calling for two ministers to intervene late last week. The Cambodian Trade Union Coordination Council ...

A group of five unions plans to send a petition to the Ministry of Labor on Friday requesting a number of changes in the controversial draft union law. Speaking at a conference in Phnom Penh yesterday, Cambodian Confederation of Unions President Rong Chhun detailed the requests ...

Seven union leaders representing garment workers will send a statement today urging the Ministry of Labor and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) to decrease the use of temporary labor contracts, because they erode the rights of workers, union leaders said yesterday. Rong Chhun, president ...

Rolling out what may be the world’s longest krama, some 130 protesters presented the National Assembly with a petition yesterday morning bearing thousands of thumbprints urging lawmakers not to pass a trio of pending laws. “We all urge the government to stop its attempt to pass ...

Union leaders gathered in the capital yesterday to discuss strategies to curb the garment industry’s widespread use of temporary contracts for hiring workers, saying employers were using them to discourage unions and ensure their workforce remained docile and easy to exploit. They also accused employers of ...

Another 30 Cambodian men among 65 rescued in Indonesia after being trafficked into work on fishing boats in Thailand were repatriated to the Kingdom yesterday, following the return of 30 such workers last week. The remaining five workers are set to be repatriated next month, Chiv ...

Thailand’s ongoing recovery efforts from recent flooding have led to a resurgence in the country’s demand for labor, resulting in a record number of Cambodian migrants crossing the border in search of work, officials and experts said yesterday. Ouk Keorattanak, Banteay Manteay provincial deputy administration chief, ...

The government has approved Qatar as a destination for the growing number of Cambodian labourers seeking employment overseas. Workers will not be recruited for housekeeping services, however, private sector officials said. The abuse of maids in Malaysia – many of whom were reportedly under-aged – has ...

The International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories program is seeking funding for a campaign to prevent “future fainting incidents” at the garment factories it monitors, following the release on Friday of the results of its investigation into them, according to a document obtained by the Post. The ...

Negotiations mediated by provincial labour officials yesterday between management of the M&V International Manufacturing garment factory in Kampong Chhnang and union representatives were successful, representatives from both sides said. The company accepted 12 demands from workers and both sides agreed to forward four unresolved issues to ...

At least 20 Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand have had their passports confiscated by a Thai recruitment agency, while another 10 have gone missing after they fled the same agency fearing they would be trafficked to work on Thai fishing vessels, Human Rights Watch and ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered on Tuesday that workers striking at Cambo Handsome 1 return to work within 48 hours and banned them from striking in front of the garment factory, in the capital’s Dankgor district. Seang Sambath, president of the Federation of Friendship Unions, ...

Prison directors across the country said yesterday they were eager to launch for-profit manufacturing programs following the expected passage of a controversial prison law that legalizes such schemes. Human rights groups, however, called on the government to strike the provision, saying that it would violate ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it was cooperating with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate 30 men – part of a group of 65 Cambodians who are in Indonesia after enduring months of abuse and exploitation while working aboard Thai fishing ...