Labor
Unions
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
Union boss to appeal $25k bail
Union leader Ath Thorn has been granted an Appeal Court appearance on July 1, in which he will argue against conditions that required him to pay $25,000 bail over an ongoing court case. The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) president is due to ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-boss-appeal-25k-bail
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
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
Arbitration’s cost and value
The Arbitration Council Foundation, credited with helping resolve about 1,700 industrial disputes, has reached verbal agreement with a Swedish aid agency to receive funding until the end of 2016, a spokesman said yesterday. But members of the labour-dispute resolution body desire a more permanent solution that ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/arbitration%E2%80%99s-cost-and-value
Workers block gates, burn tires at Japanese-owned box factory
About 80 workers protesting against a Japanese factory in Phnom Penh that produces cardboard boxes blocked the gates Friday after managers refused to hold a meeting with employees. Workers burned tires in front of the Harta Packaging factory, which they have been protesting against since February, ...
On the World Cup clock
It’s day seven of the FIFA World Cup, and the night staff at Phnom Penh’s popular Score Sports Bar and Grill are looking a bit sleep-deprived. Score is paying its staff “very well” in extra wages during the World Cup for the long nights they ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/world-cup-clock
Workers take contract demands to ministry
About 200 garment workers marched from Phnom Penh’s Wincam garment factory to the Ministry of Labor on Thursday to press their demands for short-term contracts and better benefits. The Korean-owned factory’s 800-plus workers have been protesting since June 11 to demand that the factory change their ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-take-contract-demands-to-ministry-61956/
Better protection entertained
Workers in an industry where obnoxious, drunk customers and 12-hour shifts are common could gain legal safeguards if a subdecree brought before a Ministry of Labour committee yesterday passes into law. The set of prakases for entertainment workers – which appeared before the Labour Advisory Committee ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/better-protection-entertained
Bank pays out after factory boss ‘flees’
Workers at a garment factory that closed without warning last week received payment yesterday for nearly a month and a half of work, but some are still waiting for bonuses owed to them. More than 400 workers lined up at the Canadia Industrial Park gates, behind ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bank-pays-out-after-factory-boss-%E2%80%98flees%E2%80%99
Wage group agrees on January 1 raises
The group in charge of determining the national minimum wage for the garment sector yesterday agreed to increase salaries annually on January 1, determined by discussions that are to take place in the final quarter of each preceding year, officials said. The agreement was signed during ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/wage-group-agrees-january-1-raises
Unionist’s case hazy
After a third day of questioning, during which the plaintiff’s story allegedly changed, the head of Cambodia’s largest independent garment union is in the dark as to where his case stands. Investigating judge Chea Sok Heang yesterday did not set a date for further questioning and ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unionist%E2%80%99s-case-hazy
Despite Employer’s Concessions, Workers Vow to Continue Protest
Workers at the Beautiful Spring Footwear factory in Takeo province refused to end a two-day protest on Saturday after management ceded to most of their demands but refused to raise their good-attendance bonus. The factory’s roughly 1,000 workers started protesting outside the building on Friday, two ...
Union leader to face another day in court
The leader of Cambodia’s largest independent garment union is due to appear in court this afternoon for a third round of pretrial questioning over a case stemming from a strike that ended more than six months ago. Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) president ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-leader-face-another-day-court
Domestic worker day to see maids rally for rights
About 100 domestic workers planned to gather today in front of the Ministry of Labour to mark International Domestic Workers Day by calling on the government to do more to ensure their rights. Vun Samphors, president of the Cambodian Domestic Workers Network (CDWN), told the Postthat participants ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/domestic-worker-day-see-maids-rally-rights
Confidence for plan low
Union officials and the garment sector’s factory association said yesterday they supported a new program meant to enhance relations between employers and employees, but remained sceptical of how effective it would be. In a ceremony yesterday, the Ministry of Labour inaugurated the program, which entails training ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/confidence-plan-low
Civil servants call for comp
Civil servants have again pushed the government to introduce a long-awaited insurance plan for government workers injured on the job. In a June 10 letter to Minister of Social Affairs Vong Sauth, the Cambodian Independent Civil Servants Association (CICA) calls for a National Social Security Fund ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/civil-servants-call-comp
Gov’t to meet unions for salary talks
Union members of the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) will meet on Monday for a garment industry wage discussion focusing on ideas raised at a workshop in April. The invitation from Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng was sent to the seven LAC unions on ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gov%E2%80%99t-meet-unions-salary-talks
Factory shuts down, doesn’t pay salaries
About 400 garment workers arrived for their shifts and monthly pay at Phnom Penh’s Hongkong Yufeng factory Tuesday only to find it shuttered and its owner nowhere to be found, workers’ representatives said. “Today is payday for the workers and since the employer did not have ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/factory-shuts-down-doesnt-pay-salaries-61076/
Ocean workers pray for jobs
Protesting workers at Ocean Garment factory say they are worried the manufacturer, which has suspended operations for one month, will close altogether. About 20 per cent of Ocean’s 1,300 workers demanding full payment during the break have found work elsewhere, while longtime employees are literally praying ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ocean-workers-pray-jobs
Strike continues as T&K rejects lunch allowance
Union representatives stormed out of negotiations and continued a strike yesterday when managers at T&K Garment factory said workers would never receive the 2,000 riel ($0.50) daily lunch allowance allegedly promised to them. A week after they walked off the job, T&K workers at Por Sen ...
Mom Kunthear and Koam Chanrasmey
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/strike-continues-tk-rejects-lunch-allowance
GMAC to hold class on firing
Amid complaints from union and labour rights officials of illegal firings over the years, Cambodia’s garment factory association is holding a course on the termination process in Preah Sihanouk province today. ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gmac-hold-class-firing
Union activist freed, but cops keep fliers
A union activist detained in Svay Rieng province on Sunday for delivering fliers promoting a stay-at-home strike was released after three hours, but police kept the leaflets, he said yesterday. When Kem Chamroeun, 25, of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) brought a stack ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-activist-freed-cops-keep-fliers