Labor policy and administration

The last decade was golden for Cambodian agriculture. The annual agricultural sector growth of 5.3% between 2004 and 2012 was one of the highest in the world, according to a new World Bank report, Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks , prepared with the ...

Draft legislation on trade unions will undermine the hard-won progress of labor unions here as well as violate fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, labor law and UN conventions, labor leaders said yesterday. ...

The Cambodian government is working on an agreement with the Qatari government that would allow Cambodians to join the thousands of migrant workers helping to build the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. As a safety measure, the Cambodian government has requested that Qatar guarantee ...

Eight young girls were placed in the care of the Social Affairs Ministry on Thursday after Thai authorities found them begging and selling flowers in Thailand and sent them back to Cambodia, according to the ministry. ...

Cambodia’s garment factories have indicated they will reject demands for an increase in the minimum wage next year, angering unions and risking upheaval in a crucial economic sector for years dogged by unrest. ...

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, ...

A majority of members of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which represents the country’s more than 500 exporting garment factories, have voted against any raise to their workers’ minimum wage next year. ...

The families of six Cambodian migrant workers arrested in Thailand for crossing illegally into the country two months ago have appealed to Cambodian authorities to intervene after being informed they need to raise 8,000 baht ($230) per head to bail them out. ...

Fear of social reprisal may be causing Phnom Penh’s sex workers to seek abortions in the privacy of unregistered private clinics or at home. ...

Sixteen undocumented Vietnamese migrants were arrested yesterday at a construction site in Preah Vihear, the latest in a spate of arrests of workers without papers. This summer has seen a spike in arrests, fines, and deportations of expat workers – with police saying that more ...

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. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia says it will push for revisions made on the draft trade union law last week to be changed.During a meeting on July 28, the Ministry of Labour said it had revised a number of provisions in the law, which ...

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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the country’s ambassador to Malaysia, Princess Norodom Arunrasmey, to investigate reports that hundreds of Cambodian migrant workers have been jailed in the country’s Selangor state. ...

Starting in August, the Labor Ministry plans to focus its work permit crackdown on “Western companies.” ...

The Department of Employment (DOE) will allow foreign ship workers to apply as technicians, in a move to deal labor shortages in the fishing industry. ...

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. ...

More than 50 illegal Vietnamese migrant workers were arrested Wednesday while working on the construction site of luxury estates in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, police said. ...

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. ...

Several of the more contentious points from Cambodia’s draft trade union law have been dropped, a pro-government union leader said yesterday, although at least one major union remains unsatisfied with the pending legislation. ...

Sok Ren lives in a tiny room in a rented house in Phnom Penh. She has not been home in two years, having decided to leave a child behind and find work in the city’s garment sector.  Unions say workers need at least $177 ...