Labor

Embattled union leader Ath Thorn yesterday said that he had begun a fundraising effort, trying to come up with $25,000 in bail money by the end of the week. Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said union members would begin ...

The vast majority of the country’s 600,000-strong garment factory workforce appeared to be back on the job Monday despite a call from unions to continue a stay-at-home strike until Tuesday. Eight unions had spent weeks urging workers to stay home after the Khmer New Year from ...

The U.N.’s human rights office in Cambodia expressed concern Monday that 22 detained protesters may not be allowed to attend their trials on Friday, while the government insisted that the prisoners will be transported to the court. Two minors were arrested for intentional violence for their ...

A team of disabled security guards hired to protect the embattled SL Garment Factory in Phnom Penh is seeking the formalization of their employment and an end to what they claim is the factory’s exploitation of their impairments. In November—at the height of an occasionally violent, ...

Sao Sothy’s home is small and the furniture is sparse. There are no tables or chairs. In one room, there is a small bed, but her family of four sleeps on mats in the living room. Hanging on the otherwise bare walls is Ms. Sothy’s ...

A Phnom Penh-based factory supplying uniforms for police officers and firefighters in the US city of Los Angeles continues to break Cambodian labour laws, a report to be publicly released today says. Kin Tai Garment factory, a supplier to 5.11 Tactical – which sells the uniforms ...

At least eight bus drivers from Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation company were fired last week for leading a strike before Khmer New Year to demand higher wages, employees and union representatives said Sunday. About 80 drivers went on strike on April 3 demanding a $60 increase ...

More than 2,000 workers at three factories in Svay Rieng’s Bavet City went on strike Saturday, claiming their bosses owed them money. About 500 workers at the You Li factory, which makes baby clothes, went on strike Saturday because management refused to pay them for Thursday ...

A few garment factories resumed operations in Phnom Penh on Friday, albeit at reduced capacity, as thousands of workers returned to the city after Khmer New Year celebrations in the provinces. While the majority of factories in Meanchey and Pur Senchey districts stayed closed, it remained ...

Most garment factories did not open for business Thursday, choosing to extend the Khmer New Year holidays—which officially ended Wednesday—rather than face industrial action in the form of a planned nationwide stay-at-home strike. However, a number of workers interviewed Thursday said they knew nothing about the ...

Exclusive use of short-term contracts continues to impede progress in Cambodia’s garment sector, with major brands still sourcing from factories violating the statutory two-year limit on temporary employment, labour rights groups have warned. According to a report released last week by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), ...

Mu Sochua, a lawmaker-elect for the opposition CNRP, announced Thursday that she will on Sunday morning resume her campaign to enter Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park. Last month, Ms. Sochua appeared at the park alone for four straight days—each day being physically barred by authorities—in an effort ...

Cambodia’s government should make public a proposed law aimed at regulating the country’s labor movement, a rights group said Thursday, amid concerns that it includes provisions for the suspension of unions and for severely restricting their right to freedom of association. Requests from civil society to ...

Along Phnom Penh’s industry-heavy Veng Sreng Street on Wednesday, garment factories lay idle in observance of Khmer New Year. The dorms around them were empty, save for the few workers who could not afford the bus ticket home for the holiday, which ended Wednesday. Eight unions ...

The leader of Cambodia’s largest independent garment union may soon be in jail, with the group fearing it will not be able to afford the $25,000 bail a judge has ordered be paid by April 25, its vice president said yesterday. Ath Thorn, president of the ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) warned garment workers on Thursday that they risk losing their jobs if they extend their Khmer New Year vacation by joining a stay-at-home strike. Aiming to avoid police suppression of street protests for a higher garment sector minimum wage, ...

The Zongtex Garment factory off Phnom Penh’s Russian Boulevard looks like a nondescript residential compound, hidden down a dead-end road. There are no signs suggesting that it supplied to some of the world’s leading high street names – and the US military. Taiwanese-owned Zongtex Garment Manufacturing ...

At the site where security forces shot dead at least four people during a nationwide strike on January 3, union leaders yesterday passed out fliers encouraging workers to join a stay-at-home strike after Khmer New Year. When workers filed out of Canadia Industrial Park’s gates for ...

Thailand has begun training workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar ahead of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) next year, the National News Bureau of Thailand reported Wednesday. ...

Ath Thorn, the president of the union that led strikes at the SL Garment Factory last year, appeared before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday for questioning over allegations of incitement. The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), headed by Mr. Thorn, spearheaded ...

More than 200 workers at a company connected to Thai firm K Cement downed tools yesterday and protested in front of the factory in Kampot province, demanding major pay increases and for fired unionists to be reinstated. Ty Yann, secretary of the Building and Wood Workers ...

In their latest bid for a $160 minimum monthly wage for the garment industry, independent unions will lead a “stay at home” strike late next week. While the chances of that figure being approved anytime soon seem slight – the government has only just announced a ...

About 200 workers employed by a sub-contractor of Kampot Cement Company went on strike for several hours Tuesday, demanding better wages as well as annual leave, a union representative said. “The reason they went on strike is that they want Banjamag company to implement five points” ...

Rong Chhun, head of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, is making a trip through the US, seeking support to help free 21 labor activists who have been in jail since deadly crackdowns on demonstrations in January. His visit comes as another labor leader, Ath Thun, was ...