Labor

Thousands of garment workers from four factories have gone back on strike this week to protest a decision by their employers to withhold pay for the days they did not work during recent nationwide strikes. Between 8,500 and 12,500 workers at four factories—two in Phnom Penh, ...

More than 100 work-study participants employed by NGO Digital Divide Data (DDD) in the capitol’s Chamkarmon district jumped on the strike bandwagon on Monday, demanding the same monthly wage garment workers are calling for, a union representative said yesterday. Employees are charged with transforming physical documents ...

Cambodia’s opposition leaders were questioned in court Tuesday in connection with recent protests against strongman premier Hun Sen — a case they denounced as politically motivated. Prosecutors at Phnom Penh Municipal Court spent several hours grilling Sam Rainsy and his deputy Kem Sokha about unrest that ...

The Free Trade Union (FTU) on Monday reported an overall increase in industrial action by its local branches last year with 136 total strikes in the first 11 months of 2013, up 35 percent from all of 2012, when there were 101 strikes by its ...

Defying a new ban on public gatherings, more than 50 activists and monks gathered outside the local U.N. human rights office Monday morning to demand the immediate release of 23 men who were arrested earlier this month during violent clashes between police and garment workers. The ...

Opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are due to appear before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court as scheduled this morning after retaining the services of a new lawyer, a CNRP spokesman said Monday. Mr. Rainsy and Mr. Sokha, as well as union leaders Rong Chhun ...

Visiting representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Monday urged the Labor Ministry to withdraw its threat to revoke the licenses of six unions behind recent strikes, and to drop legal proceedings against union leader Rong Chhun. His visit follows garment worker protests ...

The unions behind several days of strikes that turned deadly this month said they will officially ask the Labor Ministry today to resume negotiations on a new minimum wage for the country’s critical garment sector, and said they would hold more street protests if their ...

Hundreds of Cambodians living in South Korea protested in front of Seoul’s City Hall on Sunday, demanding justice for five garment workers killed in clashes with police on January 3, and calling for Prime Minister Hun Sen to step down. With public protests indefinitely banned in ...

About 100 people, including 20 monks, held a ceremony in Phnom Penh on Friday in memory of the five people killed a week beforehand when military police opened fire on protesting garment workers, and demanded that the government introduce a mandatory, sector-wide standard minimum wage. In ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday assigned former Finance Minister Keat Chhon as the head of a newly formed committee tasked with researching the government’s capacity to introduce wage increases for civil servants and factory workers. The statement said that Mr. Hun Sen also spoke ...

A group representing public-sector workers has called on the country’s civil servants to follow in the footsteps of teachers and begin a peaceful strike to demand higher salaries. A statement disseminated Thursday by the Cambodian Independent Civil Servants Association (CICA), which claims to have 1,530 members, ...

Dozens of soldiers from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) in Banteay Meanchey province have filed a complaint with rights group Adhoc accusing their superiors of serious corruption, stealing veterans’ pensions, nepotism and illegal logging. For three years, a representative of the soldiers said, they had ...

Factories in Svay Rieng province’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone have fired or suspended at least 50 workers – and are pursuing legal action against some – for participating in a strike last month that saw some 30,000 walk off the job. Heads of the Collective Union ...

Major labels that have clothing manufactured in Cambodian factories have written an open letter expressing concern for the recent shootings of workers demonstrating for higher wages. Adidas, Gap, H&M, Levi’s and Puma were among those that signed the January 7 letter to the Phnom Penh government, ...

The UN human rights agency urged Cambodia to launch an investigation into the “disproportionate” use of force by security forces last week against garment factory workers striking over pay. Military police opened fire on workers protesting outside a factory in Phnom Penh on January 3 and ...

Factories in Svay Rieng province’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone have fired or suspended more than 200 workers – and are pursuing legal action against some – for participating in a strike last month that saw some 30,000 walk off the job. An accountant at Kingmaker (Cambodia) ...

The South Korean Embassy on Wednesday denied a news report that it had lobbied Cambodian military authorities to “crack down on protesters” in a bid to shield Korean investments in the garment industry, prior to Friday’s killing of five protesters and the wounding of more ...

As garment workers continued to return to their factories Wednesday after several days of strikes that turned deadly last week, some of their employers have wasted no time in suing the unions behind the strikes, demanding compensation. Phnom Penh Municipal Court chief clerk Prak Savouth said ...

Union leaders say workers will continue to strike over low wages, despite a violent crackdown by authorities last week and threats this week from factories who say they will be forced to move to other countries if strikes continue. Five different union say their workers will ...

The International Labour Organization (ILO) yesterday cast doubt on the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia’s (GMAC) bleak outlook for the rest of 2014, after the association claimed that deadly violence sparked by wage disputes would result in clothing brands reducing future orders. Speaking from Bangkok, Maurizio ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia is helping its members sue several unions for damages after a walkout over demands to raise the minimum wage to $160. Ken Loo, GMAC’s secretary general, said that more than 150 members are jumping on board to sue: “And the ...

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), along with local rights groups Licadho and Adhoc, denounced the Friday shooting of protesting garment workers by police in a joint statement released in Paris on Monday. “The killing of demonstrators by government authorities is totally unacceptable. The government ...

Teachers around the country will recommence a labor strike today, demanding a raise in salary to $250 per month, teachers and the Cambodian Independent Teachers Union (CITA) said Tuesday. Teachers in Phnom Penh and at least five provinces on Monday began piecemeal strikes after CITA leader ...