Labor
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/
Seven released over selling factory goods to pay wages
Seven people who were arrested last week for attempting to sell merchandise from a factory in Kompong Speu province were released on Friday, officials said, with factory owners paying more than 100 workers part of the wages they were owed. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/seven-released-over-selling-factory-goods-to-pay-wages-96369/
Unions agree to reduce wage demands
As negotiations over a new minimum wage for the garment sector continued on Friday, union representatives agreed to temper their demands in exchange for concessions from manufacturers. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-agree-to-reduce-wage-demands-96334/
Regional leaders need to do more to curb trafficking, rights worker says
Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries need to do more to curb human trafficking, a leading human rights advocate says. Yet Asean was formed for the countries in the region to help each other with such issues, Lim Mony said. Trafficking in the region should ...
Three arrested over murder of garment worker
Three garment workers were arrested in Phnom Penh over the past two days for their alleged roles in the fatal stabbing of their colleague at his home on Monday night, officials said Wednesday. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-arrested-over-murder-of-garment-worker-96033/
Firm offers to find jobs for cheated migrants
A recruitment company has offered to help find employment in Thailand for a group of migrant workers who have accused another firm of cheating them out of hundreds of dollars each and leaving them at the Thai border last week, the company’s director said Wednesday. ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/firm-offers-to-find-jobs-for-cheated-migrants-96050/
Situation ripe for strikes: study
Short-sightedness, weak adherence to the law and poor working conditions in Cambodia’s garment sector are creating a fertile field for strikes to prevail over negotiations, a recent study released by the Arbitration Council Foundation, an independent labour mediator, has found.According to the study, incidents of ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/situation-ripe-strikes-study
Unions come to consensus on wage proposal
A disparate group of independent and pro-government trade unions on Tuesday agreed to make $168 their proposal for the garment sector’s new monthly minimum wage in ongoing negotiations with employers, bridging weeks of differences. ...
Khuon Narim and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-come-to-consensus-on-wage-proposal-95949/
Migrant workers demand passports, money
About 50 migrant workers who were part of a group that was abandoned at the Thai border by a recruitment agency last week gathered outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday to ask for the return of their passports and the fees they paid ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/migrant-workers-demand-passports-money-95967/
Recruiter’s assets seized by police
Police have seized property from a rented house in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district belonging to a recruitment firm that allegedly cheated money from some 100 Cambodians hoping to find work in Thailand. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/recruiters-assets-seized-police
Minimum wage should fall not rise: GMAC
With the fight over the minimum wage hike for the garment and footwear industry coming to a head, factory owners are already digging in their heels, saying any increase in the $128 a month wage could seriously damage an industry that is facing rising competition ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16269/minimum-wage-should-fall-not-rise--gmac/
Dream deferred in S’pore
As another Cambodian maid who travelled to Singapore under a pilot scheme between the two countries prepares to return home this week alleging labour rights abuses, recruitment agencies in Phnom Penh continue to look for more women to sign up for the overseas work. The ...
Phak Seangly and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dream-deferred-spore
Couple charged over child labor ring
A couple arrested for renting 22 children from their parents and forcing them to sell fruit on Phnom Penh’s streets and beer gardens were charged on Friday by the municipal court, police said. ...
Ouch Sony
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/couple-charged-over-child-labor-ring-95612/
Date set to announce new wage
The tripartite working group tasked with setting the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment industry is slated to officially convene today, with the results of the negotiations to be announced on October 5 if all goes to plan. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/date-set-announce-new-wage
The shackles of abuse
The plight of Cambodian migrant maids who suffer abuse by employers in Malaysia is well documented. Less so is the mental damage caused by the overseas trauma, which has led to some returned migrants being chained up by their desperate familiesYoung women who survive abuse ...
May Titthara and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/shackles-abuse
Cambodia begins minimum wage talks after Myanmar Government approves salary for garment workers
Cambodia’s 700,000 garment and footwear workers currently earn a minimum wage of $128 a month. Last year, the lowest legal salary for Cambodian workers in the $5.7 billion industry was only $100 per month. ...
UN calls on Cambodia to address land and labor disputes
Cambodia’s rapid economic growth over the past decade has also intensified problems such as forced evictions and land grabs. The UN’s envoy to the country has called on the government to urgently tackle the issues. ...
Srinivas Mazumdaru
http://www.dw.com/en/un-calls-on-cambodia-to-address-land-and-labor-disputes/a-18741822