Manufacturing
Garments and textiles
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/
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
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/
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
Gov’t passes buck on faintings
Mass faintings in Cambodia’s garment factories do not occur as a result of long hours and arduous working conditions, but from workers’ failure to care for their own health, according to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) director. During an annual meeting, which mainly focused on ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gov%E2%80%99t-passes-buck-faintings
Unions expect violence, but forum to go on
Despite anticipating violence between unionists and authorities, labour union heads yesterday said they will go ahead with a public forum at Freedom Park on Saturday morning. Phnom Penh City Hall on Tuesday denied a request by 18 union federations to hold a public forum at ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-expect-violence-forum-go
Amid stable outlook, Moody's confirms Cambodia credit rating
Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Wednesday Cambodia’s government issuer rating at B2 with a stable outlook, stating that recent labour unrest could result in only slightly slower economic growth this year. “Cambodia’s underlying credit strengths are expected to withstand the impact of recent political tensions and labor ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MmM0MmU3NmU4MmU
City hall denies unions permission for Freedom Park forum
A group of 18 labor unions and associations said they will proceed with plans for a public forum in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Saturday, despite City Hall’s rejecting their request, citing public security concerns. The unions, who are organizing a nationwide strike in the garment ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-denies-unions-permission-for-freedom-park-forum-53525/
CNRP looks for quieter plan of action as labor strike looms
When a group of six unions organized nationwide strikes in December demanding a $160 minimum wage, the opposition CNRP aggressively took up the cause. Opposition leaders rallied support outside factory gates around the country and tens of thousands of garment workers flooded into Phnom Penh’s Freedom ...
Colin Meyn and Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cnrp-looks-for-quieter-plan-of-action-as-labor-strike-looms-53527/
28 complaints filed against protest union leaders
28 complaints have been filed against labor union leaders who led and allegedly incited protests from December last year to January 5, 2014, said factory representative on Tuesday. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=Zjg3MTNmZTVjZWE
Cambodian PM says no more tolerance for illegal protests
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated Tuesday that the government would no longer tolerate illegal strikes or demonstrations led by the opposition and its aligned trade unions. Speaking during the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum, the premier said the opposition party and its trade unions have used ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/04/c_133159505.htm
Workers ‘locked inside’ during overtime strike
Workers at two different garment factories say that managers locked them inside their workplaces last week when they tried to participate in a boycott of overtime. Union representatives and rank-and-file employees at Kampong Speu province’s Complete Honour Footwear Industrial Cambodia Co, Ltd and Dai Yi Fashion ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-%E2%80%98locked-inside%E2%80%99-during-overtime-strike
Cambodian workers to be hardest-hit victims of wage unrest
Cambodian workers will be the ultimate victims if minority and violent unions continue to put the garment and shoe industries under the state of uncertainty and unpredictability by continuing to demand for further wage hikes that the industry cannot afford, an employers’ association said in ...
The Daily Star News Staff
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/cambodian-workers-to-be-hardest-hit-victims-of-wage-unrest-13761
Unions plan forum
The leaders of 18 unions and union confederations this week will invite ruling and opposition party members to take part in a public forum where labour relations issues will be discussed. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), yesterday said the letters have ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-plan-forum
Union representatives detained for distributing strike leaflets
Two union representatives said that they were detained and “educated” Thursday for distributing leaflets calling on workers to participate in a nationwide strike next month. Yin Saroeun, secretary-general of the National Trade Unions Coalition, said police detained him and his colleague, Chuob Noek, at about 11 ...
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
Scores of factories ‘set to sue’ over wage strike
The owners of 170 factories have handed power of attorney to the nation’s factories association ahead of a potential lawsuit directed at the leaders of six union groups. Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) secretary-general Ken Loo said yesterday that the factories would seek damages related ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/scores-factories-%E2%80%98set-sue%E2%80%99-over-wage-strike
Strike justified, suppression not, experts say
Garment workers’ calls for a $160 minimum wage are justified and should be honored, a new report by an international team of academics and labor experts has found. The authors—including a team from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, South Korean and ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/strike-justified-suppression-not-experts-say-53255/
Cambodian PM holds opposition-backed unions responsible for future factory closures due to strikes
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the opposition-aligned unions, inciting garment workers to stage strikes for higher wages, must take responsibilities for any future closures of factories. “The government has worked very hard to attract investors to build factories and has urged manufacturers to ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/25/c_133142013.htm
Unions set to begin first phase of nationwide strike
A coalition of 18 labor unions and associations is today set to begin the first phase of a nationwide labor strike in the garment sector by calling on workers in about 100 factories to boycott working overtime, according to union leaders. Despite efforts by the government ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-set-to-begin-first-phase-of-nationwide-strike-52989/
Labor union asks workers not to go on strike
Trade Union Workers Federation of Progress Democracy (TUWFPD) on Sunday appealed to workers in garment sector not to attend strikes called by other union leaders, saying that the strikes would adversely affect the workers themselves. The strikes are scheduled for March 12. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZWQ1MjNlZTBhZDl
800 garment workers on peaceful strike
Some 800 workers from a Taiwanese-owned Yu Da Garment Industry (Cambodia) Co., Ltd protested Saturday to demand better working condition and pay. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NDdhZDYwNTY3NDR
Gov’t criticizes media coverage of strike violence
The high-ranking government officials and global clothing brand representatives who took part in a meeting in Phnom Penh on Wednesday both raised concerns about the media coverage of last month’s lethal repression of a nationwide strike by garment workers and its aftermath. The meeting was called ...
Alex Willemyns And Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-criticizes-media-coverage-of-strike-violence-52979/