Labor
ILO reports improved factories from December to February
A small set of Cambodian factories being monitored by the International Labor Organization have showed some signs of improvement, according to a recent report. The ILO’s Better Factories initiative monitors 51 facilities. In a new report, the ILO says 30 of those factories showed signs of ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/ilo-reports-improved-factories-from-december-to-february/1873027.html
Factory flaws go live
Unionists and labour rights officials are applauding a website scheduled to go live today that will hold to account garment factories that flout Cambodia’s labour law. The site, created and maintained by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program, will publicly name factories ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-flaws-go-live
Union representatives file complaint against leaders over pilfering
Two union organizers have filed a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court claiming that the senior leaders of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) have embezzled money that was meant to be paid to workers in compensation following a dispute with ...
EU concerned, but no threats to cut Cambodia aid, trade
The European Union has called on Cambodia to release 21 jailed activists and protesters and told the government during high level talks held here this week that a failure to reform the judiciary and electoral process could have severe consequences for the ruling party by ...
Simon Marks
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/eu-concerned-but-no-threats-to-cut-cambodia-aid-trade-54254/
Guidelines finalized for child workers in fisheries sector
The government on Friday finalized guidelines aimed at reducing the number of children who work in the fisheries sector and do not attend school, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the NGO World Vision said in a statement. World Vision said the guidelines, which it ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/guidelines-finalized-for-child-workers-in-fisheries-sector-54260/
On 1st day, garment strike gains little traction
Two unions that called for a stay-at-home strike by garment factory employees Wednesday had little success in mobilizing workers after six other unions, under pressure from the government and factory owners, pulled out of the planned industrial action on Tuesday. Union leaders who pushed ahead with ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/on-1st-day-garment-strike-gains-little-traction-54038/
Minority of unions still strike
A small number of workers from four union groups took part in a stay-at-home-strike yesterday, union leaders said, after mass industrial action was postponed the day before. Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun said members of his union from a “small amount” of factories had ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minority-unions-still-strike
Riot police ready for action, protests on standby
About 100 Daun Penh district riot police on Wednesday held exercises in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park in preparation for possible industrial action in a week that garment workers’ unions had called for a mass stay-at-home strike. Unions had downscaled plans of street protests to a mass ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/riot-police-ready-for-action-protests-on-standby-54051/
Government’s Trade Union Law may limit freedom of association
A draft trade union law that the government has pledged to introduce by the end of the year includes provisions that will allow for unions to be suspended if their activities are deemed illegal, the head of Cambodia’s largest employers association said Wednesday. Van Sou Ieng, ...
Hul Reaksmey and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/governments-trade-union-law-may-limit-freedom-of-association-54042/
Workers’ strike delayed, rescheduled for post-Khmer New Year
Labor unions and associations have suspended their strike plan scheduled for March 12 following the request by garment workers, according to a union leader. The suspension came after the meeting between the union leaders from a coalition of 18 labor unions and associations today. The unionists ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NmU5MTVjY2ExZTQ
Business employers say corruption greatest threat to economy
Corruption remains the most significant challenge facing Cambodia’s economy, according to a survey of more than 300 employers conducted last year by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the results of which were released Tuesday. Despite legislation meant to stamp out graft, corruption continues to be perceived ...
Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/business-employers-say-corruption-greatest-threat-to-economy-53963/
Be glad you’re not paid in rice, Prime Minister tells teachers
Prime Minister Hun Sen advised the country’s newest crop of teachers not to feel down about their poor salaries, recalling that were they embarking on their careers in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime their pay would be a few bags of rice each ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/be-glad-youre-not-paid-in-rice-prime-minister-tells-teachers-53965/
‘Only paying lip service’
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday accused the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party of hypocrisy, claiming that although the CNRP has pushed garment workers to strike for no less than a $160 minimum wage, party leaders pay their own bodyguards, drivers and cooks half that. Opposition leader ...
May Titthara and Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98only-paying-lip-service%E2%80%99
Cambodia garment sector has Asia's highest rate of unionization
Cambodia’s garment sector has the highest rate of unionization of any industry in Asia, Cambodia Federation of Employers and Business Associations Van Sou Leng said Tuesday. “Major efforts are needed to improve the quality of workplace relations,” Van said in a statement posted on the Camfeba ...
The Cambodia Herald
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NDA0NmM5MWU5YjN
A refined approach?
Hundreds of trucks hauling sugarcane queue up along the dusty roads that cut a path through a plantation in Kampong Speu province. Their destination: Cambodia’s most advanced sugar refinery. Its owners say the landmark project, run by the Phnom Penh Sugar Company and its president, ruling ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/refined-approach
Strike may be shifted to post-holiday date
A stay-at-home garment strike scheduled for tomorrow is in doubt after a number of workers and unionists urged that it be postponed until after the Khmer New Year, a union leader said yesterday. Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said some ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/strike-may-be-shifted-post-holiday-date
Protest ban firmly in place on Women’s Day
Freedom Park was placed under lockdown and a march by land rights activists was blocked Saturday morning as Phnom Penh’s security officials were out in force to ensure that peaceful rallies on International Women’s Day could not go as planned. Prime Minister Hun Sen on February ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protest-ban-firmly-in-place-on-womens-day-53745/
ILO, Camfeba outline ways to improve investment climate
The International Labor Organization said it would launch on Wednesday two reports outlining ways to improve the investment climate in Cambodia. The first report, by the ILO, analyses Cambodia’s performance in 17 areas and contains a national survey of workers and employers. Key areas include ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YzJiMjE2YzkzYTA
GMAC welcomes government commitment to labor law
The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia says it appreciates and supports government action to enforce the union registration provision of the Cambodian Labor Law. In a statement released Friday, GMAC noted that Article 269 of the law stipulated that administrators and managers of professional organizations had ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=Zjk0NjIzYTNiNmE
Cambodian union activists banned from entering Freedom Park
Hundreds of opposition-aligned trade union activists and workers terminated their outlawed rally on Saturday after heavy security forces had been deployed in and around the capital’s Freedom Park to prevent them from entering the Park to hold a forum on the International Women’s Day. “Those activists ...
Authint Mail News Staff
https://www.authintmail.com/article/asia/cambodian-union-activists-banned-entering-freedom-park
Sar Kheng bans rally, gives police $54K in bonuses
Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Friday warned that a union-led public forum scheduled for Freedom Park on Saturday morning would not be allowed to proceed, adding that a fresh wave of union marches next week are also banned. The security minister’s comments came during a talk ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sar-kheng-bans-rally-gives-police-54k%E2%80%88in-bonuses-53735/
Cambodia offers best practices against trafficking
Cambodia has provided examples of “best practices” in the fight against human trafficking for a forthcoming Asean convention against the trafficking of people, experts said Friday at the close of a two-day conference in Phnom Penh on irregular migration and human trafficking. The Asean region is ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-offers-best-practices-against-trafficking-53731/
British institute preparing report on garment factory safety
Britain’s Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors says it is preparing a report for the Cambodian government on possible steps to reassure garment buyers about factory safety. The report by the institute, which investigated the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh last year, will also include ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=Y2EyZTc5ODg0YWF
Cambodian anti-riot police conduct exercise in preparation for future protests
The Phnom Penh Municipal Police held a special training at the capital’s Olympic Stadium on Thursday afternoon in preparation for any future demonstrations. More than 2,000 policemen, armed with shields and batons, joined the half-day training, Gen. Chuon Sovann, chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, ...
The Global Times News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/846812.shtml#.UxlFfD-Sylt