Labor
Campaign calls to stop sexual harassment in the workplace
A campaign to stop sexual harassment at the workplace will be at the center of efforts to curb violence against women over the next year, NGO representatives said at a meeting with government officials Sunday. ...
Meghan Tribe
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/campaign-calls-to-stop-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace-98235/
No protests, no arrests, court and union agree
Court officials in Kompong Speu province on Friday negotiated a settlement with a group of garment workers who have been protesting against the arrests of two union leaders, with the court agreeing not to order further arrests in the case if the workers restrict their ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-protests-no-arrests-court-and-union-agree-98179/
Cambodia initiates first-ever employment policy
The International Labor Organization says a new National Employment Policy will improve the country’s economy for the young generation.The policy, drafted with the help of Sweden, aims to increase “decent and productive” employment opportunities, enhance skills and human resources development, and strengthen labor market governance, ...
Sok Khemara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/cambodia-initiates-first-ever-employment-policy/3020097.html
ILO seeks to raise attention on slavery
A new global treaty from the International Labour Organization (ILO) is calling on governments to step-up their commitment to tackling modern slavery in countries like Cambodia where forced labour remains endemic. ...
Zoe Holman
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ilo-seeks-raise-attention-slavery
Authorities threaten protesting unionists with crackdown
A police official in Kompong Speu province said Thursday that the military might confront garment workers protesting the arrests of two colleagues if they did not stop demonstrating outside provincial government buildings.Around 600 workers from the Hong Kong-owned Agile Sweater factory protested outside the provincial ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/authorities-threaten-protesting-unionists-with-crackdown-98060/
Workers arrested amid dispute between Unions
Two garment workers who broke away from the only union operating at their factory in Kompong Speu province in an attempt to provide workers an alternate choice for representation were charged Wednesday with a slew of crimes and are being held in provisional detention, officials ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-arrested-amid-dispute-between-unions-97867/
Unions make new demands as factories focus on productivity
Following the announcement earlier this month that the monthly minimum wage in the garment sector will be raised from $128 to $140 next year, eight unions representing factory workers issued a list of 13 demands on Tuesday, threatening protests if their requests go ignored. ...
Peter Ford and Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-make-new-demands-as-factories-focus-on-productivity-97876/
Child traffickers get seven years each
Six Cambodian women were convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and sentenced to seven years in prison each for conspiring to traffic three Cambodian girls to be sold as brides in China. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/child-traffickers-get-seven-years-each
Deal struck for migrant workers
Thailand has agreed to relax enforcement against expired documents held by migrant Cambodians, which become invalid when they switch jobs without their previous employer’s written consent. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deal-struck-migrant-workers
Fire destroys factory; workers unharmed
A fire tore through a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on Monday evening, destroying more than half of the building and its inventory but injuring no workers, an official said Tuesday. ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fire-destroys-factory-workers-unharmed-97760/
Global brands welcome wage rise
Major global brands that source from Cambodia welcome the recent rise in the basic minimum wage for the country’s more than 700,000 garment workers, representatives of three brands told Khmer Times yesterday. They have no plans to shift sourcing to other countries where wages are ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16958/global-brands-welcome-wage-rise/
Employers want more productivity following wage hike
Factories in Cambodia’s garment industry say they need more productivity out of workers if they are to survive a new wage hike.Earlier this month, the government agreed to raise minimum wage to $140 per month, a figure managers said would damage the industry. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/employers-want-more-productivity-following-wage-hike/3015378.html
PM: Wage may be too high
After weeks of occasionally tumultuous negotiations saw 2016’s minimum wage for garment workers raised to $140 earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned yesterday that the new rate could cause factories to flee Cambodia, even though he was credited with personally intervening to push ...
Mom Kunthear and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-wage-may-be-too-high
Garment unions weigh protests
Garment workers unions unhappy with next year’s recently announced $140 minimum wage for the sector will meet this week to determine whether or not to hold demonstrations to protest the disappointingly low figure.The unions were pushing for $160 a month when the government announced the ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-unions-weigh-protests
Film shows how poverty, vulnerability create modern-day slaves
As human trafficking makes world news headlines, experts at a documentary screening discuss how poverty, vulnerability, and corruption are the root cause.“The Storm Makers” documentary illustrates how young women in rural Cambodia are lured into slavery. At a recent screening in Washington, human trafficking experts ...
Ten Soksreinith, Chenda Hong,
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/film-shows-how-poverty-vulnerability-create-modern-day-slaves/3007681.html
Woman’s seizure prompts mass fainting at factory
Dozens of workers fainted at a garment factory in Kompong Chhnang province on Friday after seeing one of their colleagues have a seizure, which they feared was caused by an electric shock from her sewing machine, a police official said. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/womans-seizure-prompts-mass-fainting-at-factory-97082/
Garment sector minimum wage raised to $140
The government set the new monthly minimum wage for the country’s multibillion-dollar garment industry at $140 Thursday—up from $128—after months of tough negotiations that failed to bring employers and unions even close to a consensus. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garment-sector-minimum-wage-raised-to-140-97018/
ILO congratulates Cambodia’s consensus on workers’ monthly minimum wage
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has expressed its appreciation for Cambodia’s decision to increase the minimum wage of garment, textile and footwear workers to US$140 per month, according to an ILO’s statement received by the state news agency-AKP this afternoon. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/ilo-congratulates-cambodia%E2%80%99s-consensus-on-workers%E2%80%99-monthly-minimum-wage-9026
Compromise remains elusive in minimum wage negotiations
Factory and union representatives remain as far apart as ever over where to set next year’s minimum wage for garment workers, now at $128 per month, after hours of heated negotiations Wednesday and a vote that seemed to settle nothing. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/compromise-remains-elusive-in-minimum-wage-negotiations-96839/
Global march for decent work
Workers across the globe took to the streets on Wednesday to mark the World Day for Decent Work.In South Africa, the largest union federation, Cosatu, held marches across the country to highlight a number of socioeconomic issues. ...
ioL News Staff
http://mobi.iol.co.za/#!/article/global-march-for-decent-work-1.1926469
Gov’t, factories, Unions to vote on minimum wage today
Government, factory and union representatives tasked with proposing a new monthly minimum wage for the garment sector will vote Wednesday to find a figure after once again failing to reach a consensus during negotiations in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-factories-unions-to-vote-on-minimum-wage-today-96684/
Fighting child labour
While Cambodia marginally stepped up efforts to combat child labour in 2014, a lack of resources and corruption remain massive impediments to the fight, according to a report released by the United States Department of Labor last week. It attributed those improvements largely to beefed-up ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fighting-child-labour
Deadline for wage negotiations missed; Labor Ministry to decide
The tripartite Labor Advisory Committee (LAC) on Monday missed its provisional deadline to decide on a new minimum wage for the garment sector, with employers and trade unions making little progress in coming to an agreement. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/deadline-for-wage-negotiations-missed-labor-ministry-to-decide-96513/
Cambodia holiday policy hampers competiveness
The Cambodian government just released its official list of public holidays for 2016, beating past years’ record by increasing the number of public holidays for 2016 to be 28 days notwithstanding when holidays fall on a weekend (Saturday-Sunday) the following Monday is off as compensation. ...
David Van
http://www.asiasentinel.com/econ-business/cambodia-holiday-policy-hampers-competiveness/