Worker rights

With the fight over the minimum wage hike for the garment and footwear industry coming to a head, factory owners are already digging in their heels, saying any increase in the $128 a month wage could seriously damage an industry that is facing rising competition ...

Cambodia’s rapid economic growth over the past decade has also intensified problems such as forced evictions and land grabs. The UN’s envoy to the country has called on the government to urgently tackle the issues. ...

Unions in the clothing and footwear sector yesterday wrote to the committee overseeing minimum wage negotiations threating protests if their demands were not met. ...

The Labor Ministry on Tuesday warned unions that if they failed to reach a consensus on a new minimum wage for the garment sector ahead of Friday’s Labor Advisory Committee meeting on the issue, the committee would not consider any proposal from the unions at ...

A group of 90 disgruntled workers protested Tuesday outside the office of a recruitment company that they say abandoned most of them at a border checkpoint on Saturday morning and cheated them out of the hundreds of dollars they had paid to work in Thailand. ...

More than 500 striking garment workers from a factory in central Cambodia petitioned the parliament and Labor Ministry on Monday, demanding that government officials intervene in stopping their company from firing workers without cause. ...

A new survey of what the country’s 700,000 garment workers earn and spend in a typical month has concluded that the median take-home pay of a garment factory employee is $191, higher than the minimum wage, but lower than what employers have claimed. ...

As border controls ease among ASEAN nations, Interior Minister Sar Kheng warned Tuesday the downside could be a freer flow of criminals and illegal immigrants. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia says unions and their demands for higher wages are rattling the country’s industry and could lead to a decline in buyers, factories and jobs. ...

Promises of well-paying jobs in Malaysia turned into a nightmare for four young men repatriated from the country last week with help from rights group Adhoc. The four – who range from 18 to 24 years old – had been sold to a plantation ...

Four male maids will return to Cambodia today after escaping from their employers and seeking assistance from the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia, where they say they were forced to work overtime and were not paid, an official said Monday. ...

A local beer company has agreed to pay for a group of fired employees, following protests and negotiations earlier this month. ...

Eight union representatives at a Chinese-owned window factory in Svay Rieng’s Bavet town say they are being illegally detained by security guards in a separate room at work each day after leading recent protests.​ ...

More than 400 workers from a Chinese-owned window factory in Svay Rieng’s Bavet town returned to work yesterday following two weeks of protests that saw strikers pelt their own factory with rocks. ...

More than 400 employees of a curtain factory in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet City were on strike for the eighth day Thursday over alleged labor abuses and unmet demands, a day after some of the workers lobbed rocks at the building, causing thousands of dollars ...

More than 400 employees of a curtain factory in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet City were on strike for the eighth day Thursday over alleged labor abuses and unmet demands, a day after some of the workers lobbed rocks at the building, causing thousands of dollars ...

A group of 55 drivers who briefly went on strike last month settled their dispute with the Royal Cambodian Limousine Service over unpaid overtime wages on Monday, agreeing to accept between $600 and $700 per driver, according to a representative of the drivers. Chhay Buntha, ...

Staff of Anco Brother beer company, owed by a senator of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, barred labor officials from entering the company Wednesday, as workers staged a demonstration outside. ...

A group of beer promoters plan to stage a demonstration Wednesday to demand payment for eight women who were fired by a beer company owned by a ruling party senator. ...

More than 40 Capitol Tours bus drivers who were ordered by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday to end a nearly two-weeklong strike are refusing to sign a company letter agreeing to new employment conditions. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia on Monday urged unions to moderate their demands in current negotiations over next year’s minimum wage for the garment industry, given the low productivity of Cambodian workers and their many paid days off compared with competing countries. ...

The Arbitration Council on Wednesday ordered 40 Capitol Tours bus drivers to end a strike that began on July 22 over claims that five other drivers were fired for attempting to organize a union at the company. ...

Amid numerous reports of Cambodian women being trafficked to China and men being used as forced labor on fishing boats, the U.S.’ latest Trafficking in Persons report again said Cambodia is not doing enough to combat human trafficking. ...

Nearly 60 drivers employed by the Royal Cambodian Limousine Service—a subsidiary of tycoon Kith Meng’s Royal Group that transports foreign delegates and other VIPs visiting the country—have agreed to return to work today after two days of striking failed to net them unpaid overtime wages. ...