News
As union law vote nears, employers call for last-minute changes
Representatives of employers from Cambodia’s industrial sector called for changes to the contentious draft union law yesterday. They criticized the government’s enforcement of strike regulations while requesting changes to the law that include higher thresholds for forming unions and more powers for dissolving unions. ...
Jonathan Cox and Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23356/as-union-law-vote-nears--employers-call-for-last-minute-changes/
Business group airs union law concerns
Some of the country’s top business leaders laid out their main concerns with a controversial draft union law during a meeting with CPP lawmakers on Monday, including a stipulation that would let only 10 people form a union at a workplace. ...
Sek Odom and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/business-group-airs-union-law-concerns-105839/
ILO says latest draft law on Trade Union an improvement
The regional director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Tuesday that the latest proposed changes to Cambodia’s draft Trade Union Law—which has been blasted by employers and unions alike—marked an improvement over the last version, which the ILO had called a “step backward.” ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ilo-says-latest-draft-law-on-trade-union-an-improvement-93690/
Garment sector training institute breaks ground
Employing some 700,000 Cambodians, the garment sector is the country’s largest private employer. But move above the factory floor and you will find mostly foreigners, from countries such as China, Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. ...
Peter Ford and Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garment-sector-training-institute-breaks-ground-93371/
France to train garment firms
French textile and garment association Evalliance yesterday signed an agreement with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) to provide training for middle-management workers in the industry. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Phnom Penh, Van Sou Ieng, chairman of GMAC said the agreement aims to ...
Chan Muyhong
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/france-train-garment-firms
Competitiveness ranking slips
A lack of innovation has contributed to Cambodia dropping seven spots on the World Economic Forum’s 2014-15 Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), which was released on Wednesday. The Kingdom ranked 95th out of 144 countries, down from 88th in the previous report, according to the GCR. Apart ...
Hor Kimsay
http://phnompenhpost.com/business/competitiveness-ranking-slips
Unions want arbitration council deal renewed
Trade unions at either end of the political divide Wednesday said they were eager to renew their agreement with garment factories to abide by the rulings of the country’s Arbitration Council, with some changes, despite a new report showing that both unions and employers often ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/unions-want-arbitration-council-deal-renewed-65410/
Cambodia sees 16 pct rise in garment, footwear exports in 6 months
Garment and footwear industry, Cambodia’s largest income earner, saw a 16 percent increase in exports in the first six months of 2014, according to a commerce ministry’s report on Sunday. The country exported apparel and footwear products worth 2.92 billion U.S. dollars during the January-June period ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-07/20/c_133497592.htm
New report says garment sector fails to meet UN standards
Cambodian garment manufacturers and the association that governs them are failing to meet the standards set by the U.N.’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as evidenced by lethal violence against workers during garment strikes in January, when five people were shot dead and ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-report-says-garment-sector-fails-to-meet-un-standards-54191/
Government’s Trade Union Law may limit freedom of association
A draft trade union law that the government has pledged to introduce by the end of the year includes provisions that will allow for unions to be suspended if their activities are deemed illegal, the head of Cambodia’s largest employers association said Wednesday. Van Sou Ieng, ...
Hul Reaksmey and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/governments-trade-union-law-may-limit-freedom-of-association-54042/
Cambodia holds gov't-private sector dialogue after 2-year hiatus
The Government-Private Sector Forum was held here on Tuesday after it has had a hiatus for two consecutive years because of Cambodia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2012 and general election in 2013. The Tuesday’s dialogue was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen with the participation of ...
Shanghai Daily News Staff
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=204497
Cambodian PM says no more tolerance for illegal protests
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 ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/04/c_133159505.htm
Cambodian PM holds opposition-backed unions responsible for future factory closures due to strikes
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the opposition-aligned unions, inciting garment workers to stage strikes for higher wages, must take responsibilities for any future closures of factories. “The government has worked very hard to attract investors to build factories and has urged manufacturers to ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/25/c_133142013.htm
Unions set to begin first phase of nationwide strike
A coalition of 18 labor unions and associations is today set to begin the first phase of a nationwide labor strike in the garment sector by calling on workers in about 100 factories to boycott working overtime, according to union leaders. Despite efforts by the government ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-set-to-begin-first-phase-of-nationwide-strike-52989/
Workers Vow To Continue Wage Strike
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 ...
Khoun Theara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/workers-vow-to-continue-wage-strike/1825142.html
ILO doubts bleak garment outlook
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 ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ilo-doubts-bleak-garment-outlook
Cambodia's industry loses 275 mln USD due to outlawed protests
Cambodia’s garment and shoe industry has lost roughly 275 million U.S. dollars due to outlawed garment strikes in the past two weeks, Van Sou Ieng, President of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said Monday. The garment and shoe industry comprise more than 900 ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/06/c_133022880.htm
Turmoil marks year in labour
When unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) signed a memorandum of understanding in October last year, both sides were confident strikes in the Kingdom’s biggest export sector could be kept to a minimum. Not counting December, GMAC has recorded 131 strikes this ...
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/turmoil-marks-year-labour
Factory Owners Slam Government Over Handling of Strikes
Members of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) said during a conference Sunday that they are “fed up” with the government for not controlling strikes by labor unions. “All of us have the same issue: illegal strikes,” Van Porphin, a member of GMAC’s executive committee, ...
Colin Meyn and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factory-owners-slam-government-over-handling-of-strikes-49352/
Gov’t pledges to cut red tape
In a bid to make Cambodia more business-friendly, the government will cut back on red tape and reduce industry membership costs, Sun Chanthol, the new minister of commerce, said yesterday. Speaking to representatives from the private sector at a conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Phnom ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/gov%E2%80%99t-pledges-cut-red-tape
Brands tell GMAC to dial it down
Some of the world’s largest clothing brands have warned the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia of possible business ramifications should the factory representative continue with plans to impede labour monitoring. Thirteen major buyers, including Gap, H&M, Levi’s, Nike and Puma, have signed a letter to GMAC ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/brands-tell-gmac-dial-it-down
Duty-Free Agreements Worry Minister
Duty-free agreements between regional competitors and foreign importers would put the Cambodian garment industry at risk, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said last week. Speaking to reporters after a meeting, Prasidh warned that the Kingdom’s garment sector would not be able to maintain its competitive edge over ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060366010/Business/duty-free-agreements-worry-minister.html
Strikes in Cambodian factories may hit orders
Officials of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are concerned that recent strikes could delay delivery to customers, and factories are looking for solutions to meet buyers’ demands. About 10,000 workers in seven or eight garment factories have gone on strike recently demanding higher wages ...
Cambodia’s garment exports grow in 2012
The exports of garments and textiles from Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia grew to US$ 4.61 billion, up nine percent over total textiles and garment exports worth US$ 4.24 billion made in 2011, according to The Phnom Penh Post report. However, the rise in garment ...
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=120092