Labor
Keeping women out of the work force is economic nonsense
Gender equality is “humanity’s biggest project,” Lakshmi Puri told the U.N. this past week. Puri, the deputy executive director of U.N. Women, wants to achieve “Planet 50-50” by 2030. When it comes to the workplace, equal employment opportunities aren’t just a benefit to women. Several new ...
Thomas K. Grose
http://n.pr/1CfvrKL
Government approves pact to send maids to Malaysia
Cambodia has signed off on a draft agreement that would lift a moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia, imposed four years ago amid widespread reports of abuse, and is waiting for the Malaysian government’s approval, a Labor Ministry official said Tuesday. ...
Simon Henderson
htt://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-police-face-off-in-dispute-over-road-expansion-79974/
Rival tuk-tuk associations agree to truce
Daun Penh district governor Kuoch Chamroeun on Monday negotiated a truce between two rival groups of tuk-tuk drivers who clashed violently earlier this month in a dispute over passengers. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rival-tuk-tuk-associations-agree-to-truce-79875/
200 strike over unionist’s dismissal
More than 200 striking workers demonstrated in front of Siko Phnom Penh Garment Factory in the capital’s Dangkor district yesterday after management fired an employee who founded a new labour union there, according to a union representative. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/200-strike-over-unionists-dismissal
Trafficking victims rescued from Malaysia, Indonesia
A Cambodian couple “trafficked” to work in Malaysia returned home Friday morning after being “rescued” by the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, a government official said yesterday. ...
Kuch Naren and Alex Consiglio
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/trafficking-victims-rescued-from-malaysia-indonesia-79797/
Mam Sonando blames Union for protests at Beehive
The owner of an independent radio station engulfed in a bitter dispute with a number of his employees blamed the conflict on a prominent union leader on Friday. ...
Ben Sokhean and Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mam-sonando-blames-union-for-protests-at-beehive-79799/
Cambodia rebukes "labor abuse" report
Cambodia has rejected a U.S.- based Human Rights Watch’s “labor abuse” report, saying the report is groundless, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Labor late on Friday. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/cambodia-rebukes-%22labor-abuse%22-report-8301
Mental health of trafficking victims overlooked
Survivors of human trafficking in South-East Asia require better access to health services, especially related to mental health, a study says. ...
Mike Ives
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/vulnerability/news/mental-health-trafficking-victims-1.html
Plantation workers end strike with little gain
Nearly 200 rubber plantation workers in Mondolkiri province on Thursday ended a three-day strike over wages and working conditions, despite not having resolved their concerns with Socfin KCD, the controversial French firm that owns the plantation. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/plantation-workers-end-strike-with-little-gain-79692/
HRW: Cambodia failing to protect garment workers
Human Rights Watch says lax labor laws in Cambodia are allowing garment factories, including many suppliers for Western brands, to take advantage of vulnerable workers. In a report released Thursday, the New York-based rights group documented a “persistent pattern of labor rights violations,” including forced overtime, ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/hrw-cambodia-failing-to-protect-garment-workers/2677222.html
Clothes retailers accused of labour abuses in Cambodia
Human Rights Watch says it has uncovered alleged abuses at Cambodian garment factories that supply Marks & Spencer, Gap, H&M, Adidas and Armani. The pressure group found evidence of discrimination and anti-union practices, it says. ...
BBC News Staff
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31842046
Recently bailed union leader vows to continue strike activity
A combative union leader who was released on bail last week pending trial on charges of extortion and making threats during a strike last month vowed Wednesday to continue leading his militant brand of industrial action if workers called upon him. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/recently-bailed-union-leader-vows-to-continue-strike-activity-79565/
Unique pension plan pushed
A new union has been founded pledging to offer members a post-retirement pension with a novel twist – it will be funded by sponsorship from private companies. The head of the new Workers Retirement Fund of Cambodia Union president, Sidney Sok Ke, claims to have spent ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/unique-pension-plan-pushed
Factory payout lacking: union
Workers at a factory that recently shuttered due to bankruptcy protested yesterday and vowed to continue to do so, after they were paid only part of their severance stipulated under the Kingdom’s Labour Law. Kui Xing factory in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district closed its doors ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/factory-payout-lacking-union
Thailand extends deadline for migrants on temporary permits
More than 600,000 migrant workers in Thailand who would have faced deportation at the end of the month when their temporary work permits were set to expire now have until the end of June to apply for a one-year renewal, an NGO said Tuesday. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thailand-extends-deadline-for-migrants-on-temporary-permits-79476/
Three Cambodians return home after being cheated to work abroad
Three Cambodian people who were cheated to work abroad returned home on Tuesday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/three-cambodians-return-home-after-being-cheated-to-work-abroad-8287
Environment officials to monitor conditions
The Ministry of Environment is set to join the Ministry of Labour in the monitoring of garment factory workplaces, after creating a working group that will probe the environmental safety of all plants in Cambodia. At a press conference at the ministry yesterday, Minister of Environment ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/environment-officials-monitor-conditions
DF Fashion staff to get back pay
More than 400 former employees of the abandoned DF Fashion Apparel (Cambodia) in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district will each receive between $500 and $600 in back pay owed to them today. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/df-fashion-staff-get-back-pay
Unjust firings, pay cuts lead workers to strike
Some 170 workers at a rubber company in Mondulkiri began striking yesterday for the right to unionise, the reversal of a recent pay cut and the reinstatement of two staffers who were allegedly fired unjustly, workers said. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/unjust-firings-pay-cuts-lead-workers-strike
US science envoy sees tech potential in students
Cambodia has much potential in the growth of science and technology, particularly given the motivation of young students, a US official says. In a visit to Cambodia last week, Geraldine Richmond, the US science envoy to Southeast Asia, told VOA Khmer she was surprised to see how ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/us-science-envoy-sees-tech-potential-in-cambodia-students/2673055.html
Former garment workers hold protest outside of Union office
About 25 former employees of the Chang Sheng Garment factory in Phnom Penh—which was destroyed in a fire last year—protested Sunday outside the offices of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (CCAWDU), which they accuse of withholding severance packages owed to some 180 ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/former-garment-workers-hold-protest-outside-of-union-office-79304/
Unionist accused of withholding payments
Former employees of a Phnom Penh factory that burned down in July held a small protest outside the office of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), demanding payment they say they are owed. ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/unionist-accused-withholding-payments
High number of migrant workers create political, economic challenges
There are now more than 1 million estimated Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. This could be a threat to Cambodia’s economy and politics in the future, an analyst says. ...
Men Kimseng
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/high-number-of-migrant-workers-create-political-economic-challenges/2667562.html
‘Abandoned’ workers seek factory’s sale
After the sudden, unannounced disappearance of their factory’s owner last Friday, more than 400 garment workers at DF Fashion Apparel (Cambodia) in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district gathered at the factory yesterday, demanding back wages. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/abandoned-workers-seek-factorys-sale