Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training
Mass faintings occur at two garment factories in Cambodia
At least 104 workers at two Cambodian factories fainted on Thursday morning due to exposures to chemical substances, the country’s union and factory officials said. Soeun Kea, head of the Free Trade Union at the Shimano factory in Kampong Speu Province, said that at least ...
Shanghai Daily News Staff
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=203520
Gov’t suspends freedom of association for unions
Following a complaint from the Free Trade Union (FTU) over the Ministry of Labor’s refusal to register 10 local branches of its organization, a ministry official said Wednesday that the constitutional right to freedom of association has been suspended until a new trade union law ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-suspends-freedom-of-association-for-unions-53271/
Cambodian garment workers, bloodied in crackdown, continue wage struggle
Just over a month after a brutal police crackdown on striking Cambodian garment workers left at least five people dead, the country’s unions are calling for another strike in March, increasing the likelihood of further violence. At issue is the still-unresolved question of the workers’ minimum monthly wage. Roughly 700,000 ...
Christina Larson
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-20/cambodian-garment-workers-bloodied-in-crackdown-continue-wage-struggle
Raises pending, prices soaring
Since Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng announced in late-December that the ministry would hike the minimum monthly wage for the garment sector to $100, Nuch Sdoeung has, at times, questioned if he could even afford beef. The wage boost from the prior minimum wage ...
Sean Teehan and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/raises-pending-prices-soaring
Alarm over workers to Emirates
Cambodian labourers may soon be recruited to construction sites in the United Arab Emirates, where conditions are described as “tragic” by human rights groups. The Lebanon-based company that would hire the workers under the prospective scheme, Agostine & Raphael Group, is run by Middle Eastern tycoon ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/alarm-over-workers-emirates
Faintings halved in 2013: gov’t
The number of workers fainting in garment and footwear factories halved in 2013, a National Social Security Fund (NSSF) report released last week claims – a decline the Ministry of Labour puts down to increased education. The NSSF, which is part of the ministry, recorded 823 ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/faintings-halved-2013-gov%E2%80%99t
Cambodia seeks to send workers to Arab Emirates
The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training is working for the signing of MOU for Cambodian laborers to work in Arab Emirates, Minister Ith Samheng said. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YTMzNmU3ODc1ZTA
Cambodian govt making efforts at minimum wage reform
The Government of Cambodia is making efforts at minimum wage reform, and it has set up a committee to study the minimum wage at garment manufacturing units as a way of continually working to increase it, Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng while unveiling the Ministry’s ...
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=159685
Labor Ministry ignored its own research on minimum wage
The Labor Ministry on Tuesday defended its failure to act on the results of its own study, which in November found that the minimum livable wage for garment factory workers is between $157 and $177. In its annual report, the ministry listed its wage study, carried ...
Aun Pheap and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-ministry-ignored-its-own-research-on-minimum-wage-51977/
Workers on strike to demand annual leave, administrator be ousted
Around 1,000 garment workers from a factory producing jeans in Bith Trang Special Economic Zone in Prey Nop district went on strike to protest against administration chief in their factory. They also demanded the annual leave of 18-21 days per years, which were rejected by ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MDc5ZDFkY2Q1MzB
Ministry of Labor highlights triumphs in 2013 Annual Report
The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training released its 2013 annual report Monday, trumpeting a list of nine achievements it had reached in line with its five-year plan for the fourth government mandate, which ended last year. Speaking to a crowd of about 100 officials ...
Matt Blomberg and Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-of-labor-highlights-triumphs-in-2013-annual-report-51872/
Garment workers to receive USD 100 per month from February
The Government already issued a Decision to require the employers to increase the minimum wage for the factory workers to USD 100 per month, starting from February 2014, said a government official. Vong Savann, a senior official of the Labor Ministry added that the Decision was ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NmY5MTVmYTZhMzE
Unions argue over wage committee reforms
Meeting for a minimum wage workshop on Tuesday, the country’s independent and government-aligned unions argued over reforms to the Labor Advisory Committee (LAC), the body in charge of setting the minimum wage in the garment sector, which employs some 600,000 workers. The LAC, which is composed ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-argue-over-wage-committee-reforms-51452/
No Government Meetings for International Trade Unions
International buyers and trade union representatives have been unable to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen or other government officials, despite a request following deadly worker demonstration crackdowns last month. Major international buyers signed on to a joint letter condemning the violence and urging the government ...
Kong Sothanarith
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/no-government-meetings-for-international-trade-unions/1844164.html
Rainsy to Meet Cambodian Workers in South Korea
Opposition CNRP leader Sam Rainsy is to meet with Cambodian migrant workers during a two-day trip to South Korea later this week, at the end of a European tour that has included stops in Geneva, Brussels and Paris. “He will be visiting [South] Korea to meet ...
Mech Dara and Alice Cuddy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rainsy-to-meet-cambodian-workers-in-south-korea-51349/
Minimum wage up for ministerial discussion
An interministerial committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon will meet next month to discuss the recent minimum wage increase and subsequent fallout. Ministry of Labour spokesman Heng Sour yesterday told the Post that Prime Minister Hun Sen assigned Chhon to lead the meeting ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minimum-wage-ministerial-discussion
Pro-Government Unions Call for Action Against Leaders of Strikes
Unions aligned with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government issued a statement Wednesday calling on it to “take action” against union leaders who they accuse of inciting workers to hold strikes and violent demonstrations. “We would like to request [CPP Labor Minister] Ith Sam Heng to take ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pro-government-unions-call-for-action-against-leaders-of-strikes-50970/
Cambodia's 64 trade unions urge gov't to take legal action against gangster unions
Cambodia’s 64 trade unions on Wednesday asked the Minister of Labor Ith Samheng to take serious legal action against some gangster unions that have caused riots and illegal strikes as well as intimidations to their members in protests, according to a joint letter. “We’d like to ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/22/c_133066064.htm
Major Brands Confront Cambodian Leader Over Use of Force
A coalition of 30 brands and three global unions have sent a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen calling for an investigation into the recent use of deadly force against striking garment-sector workers. The letter, dated Friday, urged the government to launch a new process ...
Kate O'keeffe and Sun Narin
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304027204579330201431431652?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304027204579330201431431652.html
Retail associations urge talks
Six major retail, footwear and garment industry associations whose members account for over 90 per cent of garment imports in the US and Canada have called on the Cambodian government, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and unions to resume wage negotiations. The open ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/retail-associations-urge-talks
Cambodia sends 22,300 laborers abroad last year
Cambodia had dispatched some 22, 300 laborers overseas in 2013, down 36 percent from 34,800 a year earlier, figures from the Ministry of Labor showed Monday. The country sent 13,170 workers to Thailand last year, down 50 percent year-on-year; 8,820 to South Korea, up 8 ...
Asean-China-Center News Staff
http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2014-01/15/c_133047425.htm
Strike action still on table, unions say
Leaders of unions that declared a nationwide garment worker strike said the work stoppage and protests, which they temporarily suspended, will resume unless government officials renegotiate the industry’s minimum wage. The announcement was their first since authorities cracked down on strike demonstrations on January 2 and ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/strike-action-still-table-unions-say
Cambodia, ILO jointly launch job services, labor market information project with Chinese aid
Cambodia and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Thursday launched a new project to expand job services and improve labor market information with funding from China, according to an ILO media statement. The ILO/China South-South Cooperation Project to Expand Employment Services and Enhance Labor Market Information ...
Global Times News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/837853.shtml#.UtiSiRCSxqU
No union for workers in food biz
After the Ministry of Labour denied a food service union official registration, a union official is crying foul, asserting that authorities are discriminating against her group – a charge the government denies. The Cambodian Food and Service Worker Federation (CFSWF), a 4,000-member union representing workers in ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-union-workers-food-biz