Labor

The government now requires union leaders to prove that they have no criminal record before registering new branches of their organization, according to a statement from the Ministry of Labor, a decision that comes less than a week before planned nationwide strikes in the garment ...

Mass faintings in Cambodia’s garment factories do not occur as a result of long hours and arduous working conditions, but from workers’ failure to care for their own health, according to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) director. During an annual meeting, which mainly focused on ...

The government has no intention of withdrawing its signature from the International Labour Organization’s freedom of association convention, despite calls for it to reconsider its position, a Ministry of Labour spokesman said yesterday. “I don’t think we will withdraw. The prime minister [Hun Sen] has already ...

The Ministry of Labor said Wednesday that the government has agreed on a final draft of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia regarding sending Cambodian maids to work there, but that no timeframe for the signing of the agreement has been set. Following reports of ...

Despite anticipating violence between unionists and authorities, labour union heads yesterday said they will go ahead with a public forum at Freedom Park on Saturday morning. Phnom Penh City Hall on Tuesday denied a request by 18 union federations to hold a public forum at ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has told local business leaders that increased wages should be linked to improvements in the productivity of workers. Speaking at the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum on Tuesday, he said higher wages “must be attached to the production capacity of each worker and ...

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Wednesday Cambodia’s government issuer rating at B2 with a stable outlook, stating that recent labour unrest could result in only slightly slower economic growth this year. “Cambodia’s underlying credit strengths are expected to withstand the impact of recent political tensions and labor ...

A group of 18 labor unions and associations said they will proceed with plans for a public forum in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Saturday, despite City Hall’s rejecting their request, citing public security concerns. The unions, who are organizing a nationwide strike in the garment ...

When a group of six unions organized nationwide strikes in December demanding a $160 minimum wage, the opposition CNRP aggressively took up the cause. Opposition leaders rallied support outside factory gates around the country and tens of thousands of garment workers flooded into Phnom Penh’s Freedom ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen told business leaders and government officials Tuesday that he will not tolerate “illegal” labor strikes that harm investment, but avoided judgment on a request to withdraw ratification of a U.N. convention protecting workers’ rights to unionize. Speaking at the 17th Government-Private Sector ...

A day after union leader Vorn Pov was violently arrested during garment strikes in early January, he was driven to an unknown location and told by armed officers to get out of the vehicle. The union leader said his group of co-accused share a cell ...

More than 20 families working on a controversial palm oil plantation in Ratanakkiri province owned by the Hoang Anh Lumphat company have filed a complaint with rights group Adhoc accusing the owners of improperly withholding one month’s pay. Lor Sophal said he and another 22 families, ...

28 complaints have been filed against labor union leaders who led and allegedly incited protests from December last year to January 5, 2014, said factory representative on Tuesday. ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated Tuesday that the government would no longer tolerate illegal strikes or demonstrations led by the opposition and its aligned trade unions. Speaking during the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum, the premier said the opposition party and its trade unions have used ...

Workers at two different garment factories say that managers locked them inside their workplaces last week when they tried to participate in a boycott of overtime. Union representatives and rank-and-file employees at Kampong Speu province’s Complete Honour Footwear Industrial Cambodia Co, Ltd and Dai Yi Fashion ...

Cambodian workers will be the ultimate victims if minority and violent unions continue to put the garment and shoe industries under the state of uncertainty and unpredictability by continuing to demand for further wage hikes that the industry cannot afford, an employers’ association said in ...

The leaders of 18 unions and union confederations this week will invite ruling and opposition party members to take part in a public forum where labour relations issues will be discussed. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), yesterday said the letters have ...

Two union representatives said that they were detained and “educated” Thursday for distributing leaflets calling on workers to participate in a nationwide strike next month. Yin Saroeun, secretary-general of the National Trade Unions Coalition, said police detained him and his colleague, Chuob Noek, at about 11 ...

Cambodia is entering a new phase of economic growth in which the development of a skilled workforce will be critical to social stability and regional competitiveness, government officials and economists said Thursday at the 2014 Cambodia Outlook Conference. Delivering the keynote speech at the conference, Prime ...

The Labor Ministry in a statement Thursday insisted that unions were still free to register as entities recognized by the government, a day after a ministry spokesman said that union registration had been effectively suspended for the foreseeable future. Free Trade Union (FTU) president Chea Mony ...

More than 100 garment and shoe factory workers fainted in two separate incidents Thursday, the first reported factory faintings of the year, according to local officials. Eighty-two garment workers fainted at the Crystal Martin factory in Kandal province after inhaling fumes from leaking battery acid, a ...

At least 104 workers at two Cambodian factories fainted on Thursday morning due to exposures to chemical substances, the country’s union and factory officials said. Soeun Kea, head of the Free Trade Union at the Shimano factory in Kampong Speu Province, said that at least ...

Following a complaint from the Free Trade Union (FTU) over the Ministry of Labor’s refusal to register 10 local branches of its organization, a ministry official said Wednesday that the constitutional right to freedom of association has been suspended until a new trade union law ...

Seven Cambodians are now believed to have been killed and 14 injured by a falling beam at a construction site in Thailand on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday. “Cambodian embassy officials in Bangkok are working with the Thai police to find out the ...