Labor
Cambodia suffering a lack of depth in skilled-worker pool
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 ...
Ayanna Runcie
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-suffering-lack-depth-skilled-worker-pool
Two Cambodians convicted following Thailand market melee
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 ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/two-cambodians-convicted-following-thailand-market-melee-107655/
Worker road deaths spike in ‘15
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. ...
Sen David and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/worker-road-deaths-spike-15
Free Unionists, FTU pleads
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. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/free-unionists-ftu-pleads
Bavet city SEZ workers to be released on bail
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. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/20820/bavet-city-sez-workers-to-be-released-on-bail/
Workers from shuttered garment factory demand wages
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. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-shuttered-garment-factory-demand-wages
GIZ pumps euros into workplace inspections
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. ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/giz-pumps-euros-workplace-inspections
Garment workers rally against Starlight, labor ministry to step in
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. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/20658/garment-workers-rally-against-starlight--labor-ministry-to-step-in/
Apparel companies cite union concerns
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. ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/apparel-companies-cite-union-concerns
New standards for recruitment agencies
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. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-standards-recruitment-agencies
Labor leaders call for more discussion on union law
In a joint statement, civil society and labor leaders urged the government to accept changes to the law as they continue to discuss it. ...
Hean Socheata
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/labor-leaders-call-for-more-discussion-on-union-law/3154489.html
Meetings over law leave unions wanting
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. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/meetings-over-law-leave-unions-wanting
New report spotlights hidden workforce behind global brands
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. ...
Aria Danaparamita
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-report-spotlights-hidden-workforce-behind-global-brands-105909/
Committee wraps up trade union law talks
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. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/committee-wraps-trade-union-law-talks
Business group airs union law concerns
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. ...
Sek Odom and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/business-group-airs-union-law-concerns-105839/
Trilateral agreement signed to combat human trafficking
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. ...
សាំង សុឥន្ទរិទ្ធ និង Aria Danaparamita
http://www.cambodiadailykhmer.com/news/29587/
3,000 women, children allegedly trafficked to Laos, Cambodia
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. ...
Viet Nam News Staff
http://vietnamnews.vn/society/281258/3000-women-children-allegedly-trafficked-to-laos-cambodia.html
Training in works for garment truck drivers
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 ...
Lay Samean and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/training-works-garment-truck-drivers
Kingdom’s union law ‘a work in progress’
Lawmakers from both the ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) were able to reach consensus and move forward on several aspects of the draft union law yesterday, revising seven of 21 articles that had been flagged by union groups ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/19968/kingdom---s-union-law----a-work-in-progress---/
Hundreds pray for release of unionists
Hundreds of workers from the Agile Sweater factory in Kampong Speu province gathered in front of the provincial court yesterday, praying for authorities to release five unionists arrested at the factory on Tuesday. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hundreds-pray-release-unionists
Rescues of trafficked migrant workers surge
More than 500 trafficked Cambodian migrant workers were rescued abroad and sent home in 2015, a huge increase compared to 2014 numbers, though largely attributable to a handful of mass repatriations from Indonesia.According to a report by the Foreign Ministry, 573 workers were returned home ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rescues-trafficked-migrant-workers-surge
Rescues of trafficked migrant workers surge
More than 500 trafficked Cambodian migrant workers were rescued abroad and sent home in 2015, a huge increase compared to 2014 numbers, though largely attributable to a handful of mass repatriations from Indonesia.According to a report by the Foreign Ministry, 573 workers were returned home ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rescues-trafficked-migrant-workers-surge
Siem Reap hotel protest moves to courthouse
About 200 unionists and past and present employees of Siem Reap City’s Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa on Monday demonstrated outside the Siem Reap Provincial Court against an injunction ordering them to stop protesting outside the high-end hotel, but agreed to disperse when military police ...
Ben Sokhean and Aria Danaparamita
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/siem-reap-hotel-protest-moves-to-courthouse-105062/
Bavet workers see pay diminished after strikes
Workers at factories affected by recent garment worker strikes in the Svay Rieng province town of Bavet were paid their salaries on Saturday, suffering wage cuts that have sparked concerns about renewed protests. ...
Mech Dara and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bavet-workers-see-pay-diminished-after-strikes