Labor

More than 250,000 Cambodian migrant workers, mostly undocumented, have fled Thailand since early this month in fears of a military junta’s clampdown on illegal foreign workers, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday. “Up to now, over 250,000 Cambodians have crossed the border from Thailand back ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday called on Thailand’s ruling junta to ensure the safety of Cambodian migrant workers and to treat well those that are being deported. Up to 250,000 Cambodians have fled Thailand or been deported since the junta took control in a May ...

Three border provinces with Cambodia opened offices to document Cambodian workers entering Thailand on Thursday, to combat human trafficking and illegal labour, with a fourth to open on Monday. Three new one-stop centres were opened at the border in Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi and Trat provinces, to issue  temporary ...

A garment factory will prolong its monthlong closure until at least July 9, when the Arbitration Council Foundation rules on a case brought by its workers. ...

Cambodia’s National Employment Agency (NEA) said Wednesday that there are 16,146 vacant jobs awaiting workers who have recently been deported from or fled Thailand in fears of a military regime’s clampdown. “NEA would like to inform laborers who just returned from Thailand that NEA has collected ...

Union leader Ath Thorn has been granted an Appeal Court appearance on July 1, in which he will argue against conditions that required him to pay $25,000 bail over an ongoing court case. The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) president is due to ...

Twenty representatives of workers locked in a monthlong dispute with management at the Ocean Garment factory appeared before the Arbitration Council yesterday, a union official said. A spokesman from the Arbitration Council yesterday told the Post that such cases are typically sorted out within 15 working days. ...

Labor Ministry officials are set to meet today with about 40 local recruitment agencies to talk about formalizing the procedure for sending migrant workers to Thailand, an agency director said. The meeting will focus on how the agencies can help migrants obtain work permits and other ...

Union leaders made another appeal for the Cambodian government to raise the minimum wage to $160 and rescind convictions of 25 workers arrested during deadly demonstrations in November and January. ...

A six-month protest over unpaid bonuses has seen production at a Por Sen Chey district box factory grind to a halt over the past four days, with more than 200 former employees blocking gates and preventing shipments. Former employees at Harta Packaging Industries began barricading gates ...

A sub-decree aimed at stemming the massive influx of mostly undocumented Cambodian migrant workers returning from Thailand with a drastically reduced passport fee already appears to be generating an overwhelming response. Yesterday, an estimated 200 workers lined up outside the Battambang provincial passport office to get ...

The Arbitration Council Foundation, credited with helping resolve about 1,700 industrial disputes, has reached verbal agreement with a Swedish aid agency to receive funding until the end of 2016, a spokesman said yesterday. But members of the labour-dispute resolution body desire a more permanent solution that ...

Cambodia failed to improve its ranking on the U.S.’ annual “Trafficking in Persons Report” after being demoted last year. Released on Friday, the global report again ranks Cambodia on the Tier 2 Watch List, one tier away from the lowest position, Tier 3. ...

With Thailand and Cambodia both feeling the pinch from the sudden exodus of more than 200,000 Cambodian workers out of Thailand, the two countries are now working together to try and get them back to their old jobs legally, as fast as possible. Some 225,000 Cambodians, ...

Relevant organizations have been actively cooperating with the government in providing transportation service for illegal migrant workers to return to their home after they were sent back by the junta in Thailand. The temporary estimation for the aid so far amounts to nearly 200,000$. The government ...

A Cambodian decree slashing the passport fee for would-be migrant workers to only $4 (about Bt 120) is expected to lead to an influx of workers from the neighbouring country into Thailand. Cambodian migrant workers who have just returned to Cambodia yesterday greeted the news with ...

Thai authorities have arrested and are preparing to try 13 Cambodian migrant workers who were allegedly caught with fake stamps on their work papers as they tried to return home, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed on Friday. The government also announced a plan to subsidize ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Friday met with visiting U.N. human rights envoy Surya Subedi, who spent the first week of his 11th mission to Cambodia following up on electoral, labor and legislative reform. The special rapporteur later met with CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha, who ...

About 80 workers protesting against a Japanese factory in Phnom Penh that produces cardboard boxes blocked the gates Friday after managers refused to hold a meeting with employees. Workers burned tires in front of the Harta Packaging factory, which they have been protesting against since February, ...

Cambodian Minister of Labor Ith Samheng said Friday that nearly all illegal Cambodian migrant laborers working in Thailand have returned home in fears of a junta’s crackdown on illegal foreign workers. Major Gen. Pich Vanna, chief of Cambodian-Thai Border Relation Affairs Office, said the Thai ...

Following an exodus of more than 200,000 Cambodian workers from Thailand in the past two weeks, the junta has urged Cambodia to expedite planned border offices that will facilitate legal labour migration. Responding to that request, Cambodia announced yesterday that the first “one-stop service office” would ...

It’s day seven of the FIFA World Cup, and the night staff at Phnom Penh’s popular Score Sports Bar and Grill are looking a bit sleep-deprived. Score is paying its staff “very well” in extra wages during the World Cup for the long nights they ...

About 200 garment workers marched from Phnom Penh’s Wincam garment factory to the Ministry of Labor on Thursday to press their demands for short-term contracts and better benefits. The Korean-owned factory’s 800-plus workers have been protesting since June 11 to demand that the factory change their ...

U.N. human rights envoy Surya Subedi met with representatives of the country’s businesses and employers Thursday for talks that focused on the protection of workers’ rights and measures that can be taken to ensure that strained industrial relations do not once again erupt into violence. In ...