Labor

Consular officials yesterday were working to repatriate a Cambodian maid fleeing what she described as unfair working conditions in Saudi Arabia, even as Cambodia’s minister of labour was en route to seal a long-awaited deal to open a pipeline of workers to the Gulf nation. ...

The president of a tuk-tuk and motodop drivers’ association, whose members were recorded on video brutally beating protesting bus drivers over the weekend, said he would file complaints against prominent union and civil society leaders for sparking the violence his own group was accused of ...

With the American economy expanding, Cambodia’s total export to the country increased  slightly more than 9 per cent last year over 2014, the latest US trade data shows. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged two protesters involved in a bloody scuffle that left scores injured over the weekend, while another four prominent unionists were also charged in a significant expansion of the controversial case. ...

A bloody scuffle in Phnom Penh on Saturday left scores injured after protesting bus drivers and their supporters were brutally set upon by a rival association armed with sticks, metal bars and hammers. ...

The Appeal Court on Thursday upheld convictions of intentional violence and causing property damage against 13 unionists and workers who were arrested during a riot outside a Phnom Penh industrial park on January 3, 2014, at which military police shot dead at least five people. ...

Kouch Pheng, president of Advanced Glory Logistics Group (Cambodia), is in the business of overcoming obstacles. His Phnom Penh-based freight-forwarding company handles a daily dose of pot-holed roads, unscripted shipping delays and Kafka-esque government red tape – yet still manages to deliver its client’s cargo ...

Officials are attempting to se­cure the release of two Cambo­dian men who were sentenced to three months in a Thai prison on Thursday after being summarily convicted of at­tacking government inspectors at a market in Sa Kaeo province the day before, ac­cording to the Ministry ...

The number of workers killed and injured by traffic accidents nearly doubled in 2015, according to a report released by the National Social Security Fund yesterday. ...

The Free Trade Union has sent a letter to police seeking the release of two union officials arrested on Tuesday over protests at the Cerie garment factory in Kampong Speu province. ...

The four garment workers arrested late last year alongside seven others for allegedly damaging factory property during protests in Bavet City will be released on bail soon, according to Svay Rieng provincial officials. ...

More than 500 garment workers from a shuttered garment factory in the capital’s Dangkor district are demanding their salaries after the firm’s owner ran away.According to its website, the Chinese-owned Muse Garment (Cambodia) Factory Limited produced pants and shorts exclusively for the European market. ...

In a bid to reassure European shoppers concerned with unfair labour practices, Germany’s state aid agency GIZ has pledged €1.2 million ($1.3 million) to a new program focused on enhancing Cambodia’s labour inspections system for the garment sector. ...

After roughly 300 garment workers from the Starlight Apparel manufacturing Co. Ltd. in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district gathered in front of the Ministry of Labor yesterday, officials promised to meet today to address their demands, according to a representative of the workers. ...

A visiting delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong met with relevant ministries and stakeholders yesterday to discuss the progress of Cambodia’s trade union law and the issues surrounding industrial relations in the Kingdom. ...

The Ministry of Labour on Saturday issued a 12-point set of standards for recruitment agencies sending workers abroad, warning operators they have just over a month to comply. ...

In a joint statement, civil society and labor leaders urged the government to accept changes to the law as they continue to discuss it. ...

Unions yesterday called for further discussion of the draft trade union law after a bipartisan committee tasked with examining the controversial legislation concluded on Tuesday having agreed to few substantive changes. ...

Global brands rely on a hidden workforce within their supply chains to avoid responsibility for poor working conditions and abuse, according to a new report from the International Trade Union Confederation. ...

The bipartisan committee tasked with examining the Kingdom’s controversial draft trade union law wrapped up its activities yesterday, ultimately making few of the substantive changes that unions demanded. ...

Some of the country’s top business leaders laid out their main concerns with a controversial draft union law during a meeting with CPP lawmakers on Monday, including a stipulation that would let only 10 people form a union at a workplace. ...

Cambodia signed an agreement with Vietnam and Laos during a meeting on Thursday to enhance efforts to fight human trafficking—with Vietnam reporting at the meeting that police discovered nearly 90 human trafficking rings along its border with Cambodia last year. ...

Some 3,000 Vietnamese women and children were suspected to have been trafficked to Laos and Cambodia in 2015, the Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper reported.The women were sold into prostitution and children were forced into hard physical labor. ...

Reacting to a spate of garment worker transport truck accidents in the past 12 months, including one on Tuesday that took four lives, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) yesterday announced plans to provide truck drivers with road safety education, with the aim of having ...