Labor policy and administration
Safety and health at work
Round of capitol bus negotiations fruitless
Negotiations between former drivers of the Capitol Bus Company and their ex-employer, mediated by Prampi Makara district authorities, yielded no settlement yesterday, although both parties agreed to continue talks. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/round-capitol-bus-negotiations-fruitless
Labour rights issues ‘industry-wide’: H&M
Swedish apparel giant H&M yesterday responded to a new report that alleged labour rights abuses in its Cambodian supplier factories by saying such issues plagued the entire industry and were difficult for any one company to fix. ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/labour-rights-issues-industry-wide-hm
H&M's suppliers guilty of labour rights abuses, report alleges
A new report has alleged labour rights abuses at Cambodian supplier factories for apparel giant H&M, as more than 500 garment workers gathered in Phnom Penh yesterday to air some of the same concerns over working conditions during a workers’ forum. ...
Sen David and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hms-suppliers-guilty-labour-rights-abuses-report-alleges
Garment workers to get health insurance
Garment workers across the Kingdom will receive health insurance from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) by 2018, according to officials. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24928/garment-workers-to-get-health-insurance/
Court releases activist, former capitol tours bus driver on bail
Former Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and labor activist Ros Siphay were released on bail Wednesday, nearly two months after they were arrested for taking part in a demonstration against the company during which protesters were attacked by a mob of angry tuk-tuk drivers. ...
Battambang man dies in old gold-mining pit
Conflicting versions of events emerged yesterday after a Battambang man was found dead in a disused gold-mining pit in the province’s Phnom Proek district. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/battambang-man-dies-old-gold-mining-pit
Factory precautions urged as temps rise
The Ministry of Labour has urged the garment industry to take adequate health and safety measures to compensate for what they say is already an unusually hot dry season. ...
Bun Sengkong and Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-precautions-urged-temps-rise
Unionists arrested by undercover police out on bail
Two unionists jailed since February 2 have been released on bail by the Kompong Speu Provincial Court, although they remain charged with incitement and intentional violence in connection with a protest outside the Cerie garment factory, officials said Thursday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unionists-arrested-by-undercover-police-out-on-bail-109759/
Factories failing women: study
Despite their overwhelmingly female workforce, garment factories in Kompong Speu province fail to adequately address the maternal health and child-care needs of their staff, according to new study set to be released by the French NGO Enfants and Developpment. ...
Taylor O'Connell
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-failing-women-study-108780/
Forty faint at Svay Rieng SEZ factory
Officials blamed food poisoning for sparking the mass fainting of about 40 garment workers in a factory in the Svay Rieng border town of Bavet on Monday afternoon. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forty-faint-svay-rieng-sez-factory
Anti-capitol boycott drawing increased support after attack
A boycott of the Capitol Bus Company organised by former drivers and their supporters is picking up steam online after a brutal beatdown took place at a protest last week. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/anti-capitol-boycott-drawing-increased-support-after-attack
Fumes blamed as 20 garment workers faint
Twenty female garment workers at Evergreen Apparel factory in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district fainted yesterday because of toilet fumes funnelled through the ventilation system, though heat stress and heavy workloads were also possible factors. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fumes-blamed-20-garment-workers-faint
Saudis sign MOU on maids
Cambodia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to begin work on opening a pipeline for Cambodians to work in the gulf nation, which has been routinely criticised for failing to protect migrant domestic workers from abysmal treatment and slave-like conditions. ...
Chhay Channyda and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/saudis-sign-mou-maids
Appeal court to hear ‘insurrection’ case next month
Eleven opposition activists who have been jailed since 2014 for supposedly participating in an “insurrection” will have their appeal against their conviction heard on March 17, their lawyer said on Friday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/108429-108429/
Sugar plantation burns in Svay Rieng province
A fire burned through 45 hectares of sugarcane plantation belonging to three companies in Svay Rieng province’s Svay Tiep district on Tuesday, with one company representative suspecting that the fire was intentionally set. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sugar-plantation-burns-svay-rieng-province
Fumes from toilets lead to mass faintings at factory
More than 30 workers fainted at a garment factory in Kandal province over the past two days after inhaling noxious fumes circulated by a ventilation fan located near the facility’s toilets, an official said. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fumes-from-toilets-lead-to-mass-faintings-at-factory-107996/
Maid to return from Saudi Arabia as deal nears
Consular officials yesterday were working to repatriate a Cambodian maid fleeing what she described as unfair working conditions in Saudi Arabia, even as Cambodia’s minister of labour was en route to seal a long-awaited deal to open a pipeline of workers to the Gulf nation. ...
Charles Rollet and Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/maid-return-saudi-arabia-deal-nears
Protesting capitol bus drivers attacked
A bloody scuffle in Phnom Penh on Saturday left scores injured after protesting bus drivers and their supporters were brutally set upon by a rival association armed with sticks, metal bars and hammers. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/protesting-capitol-bus-drivers-attacked
Two Cambodians convicted following Thailand market melee
Officials are attempting to secure the release of two Cambodian men who were sentenced to three months in a Thai prison on Thursday after being summarily convicted of attacking government inspectors at a market in Sa Kaeo province the day before, according to the Ministry ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/two-cambodians-convicted-following-thailand-market-melee-107655/
Worker road deaths spike in ‘15
The number of workers killed and injured by traffic accidents nearly doubled in 2015, according to a report released by the National Social Security Fund yesterday. ...
Sen David and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/worker-road-deaths-spike-15
New report spotlights hidden workforce behind global brands
Global brands rely on a hidden workforce within their supply chains to avoid responsibility for poor working conditions and abuse, according to a new report from the International Trade Union Confederation. ...
Aria Danaparamita
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-report-spotlights-hidden-workforce-behind-global-brands-105909/
PM signs health decree
As part of a long-planned project to overhaul the country’s social security system, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed into law yesterday a sub-decree effectively granting health insurance to hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers. ...
Sen David and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-signs-health-decree
New maid training DIY
Cambodian recruitment agencies are drawing up more extensive training programs for maids being sent to Malaysia following a lifting of a ban on the practice in December. ...
Sen David and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-maid-training-diy
Legal passage to Malaysia for maids still some months away
Although Cambodia signed off on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia on Thursday that will once again allow the country to send domestic workers to its Asean neighbor, a Labor Ministry spokesman said it will not take effect for months. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/legal-passage-to-malaysia-for-maids-still-some-months-away-102896/