News
As Wing Star Shoes strike enters third day, workers block road
Thousands of workers at the Wing Star Shoes Co. Ltd. on Wednesday blocked the road to the factory in Kompong Speu province for two hours. They demanded the company raise their bonuses by $5 and properly enforce labor laws after arbitration talks failed Tuesday. It was ...
Garment grievances to be aired
- 3 September 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Garments and textiles / Human rights / Industries / Labor / Labor policy and administration / Manufacturing / Social development
- ASICS Corporation / Bangladesh / Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) / Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia / H&M Company / International Labour Organization (ILO) / Jill Tucker / Johannes Hackstette / Kingsland Garment (Cambodia) Ltd / Kong Athit / New Archid factory / Puma / Rana Plaza factory / Saramax Apparel Group Inc / SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd / Wal-Mart Stores Inc / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd
Calls for big-name apparel brands to take more responsibility for working conditions in Cambodian garment factories are growing louder as representatives of retail companies ranging from H&M to Wal-Mart arrive in Phnom Penh for a semi-annual buyers’ forum this week. Since it began three years ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-grievances-be-aired
Corruption worse than in Bangladesh: NGO
- 12 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Safety and health at work / Trade
- ACILS / American Center for International Labor Solidarity / Bangladesh / Better Factories Cambodia / BFC / Bribery / collapse / construction / Corruption / Dave Welsh / Factories / factory ceiling collapse / Factory collapse / Footwear / Garment factories / garment sector / garment workers / garments / health and safety / illegal construction / International Labour Organization / International Labour Organization technical specialist / International NGOs / Jason Judd / labor / Leng Tong / Ministry of Labour / Ministry of Labour’s occupational health and safety department director / NGOs / nongovernmental organizations / Pakistan / payments / Rana Plaza / Rana Plaza factory / Shoe factory / shoes / TI / Transparency International / Wing Star factory / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / Wing Star Shoes factory / workers / working conditions
In a country where corruption is as rife as it is in Cambodia, global brands must work with governments to ensure garment factories are safe and working conditions legal, international NGO Transparency International (TI) said yesterday. In Cambodia, where two workers were killed when a ceiling ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061266221/National/corruption-worse-than-in-bangladesh-ngo.html
Wing Star Widow in Limbo
- 3 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Exports / Investment / Labor / Labor policy and administration / Social development / Trade
- ACILS / American Center for International Labor Solidarity / ASICS / Bangladesh / ceiling collapse / collapse / compensation / Dave Welsh / Factory collapse / ILO / ILO conventions / International Labor Organization / Kampong Speu / Kampong Speu Province / Kim Dany / labor / labor rights / labour / Labour unions / National Social Security Fund / NGOs / NSSF / NSSF Deputy Director / Royal Government / shoes / shoes factory / Sum Sophorn / Wing Star incident / Wing Star Shoe factory / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / worker rights
Government officials have suggested the widow of the man crushed to death last month at the Wing Star Shoes factory, a supplier to Asics, will still be denied compensation from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), a labour rights worker said yesterday. American Center for International ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060366021/National/wing-star-widow-in-limbo.html
Underage, Overworked
- 29 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Child labor / Economy and commerce / Education and training / Education policy and administration / Investment / Labor / Labor policy and administration / Law and judiciary / Social development
- American Center for International Solidarity Country Manager / ASICS / Child Exploitation / child labour / CLEC / collapse / Community Legal Education Center / Community Legal Education Center Consultant / Dave Welsh / exploitation / Factories / Factory Audit / Factory collapse / factory inspections / factory working conditions / Fasify Documents / Footwear / garment / Garment factories / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia Secretary-general / health and safety / ILO Inspection / Inspections / Japanese aid / Japanese companies / Joel Preston / Kantouk Commune / Ken Loo / Kim Dany / Kompong Speu / Kompong Speu Province / labour / Labour laws / law violations / Lei Shi Ken / Ministry of Labour’s Child Labour Department Director / Mittapheap District / New Star Shoes / New Star Shoes Factory / Por Sen Chey district / Preah Sihanouk / Preah Sihanouk Province / shoes / shoes factory / Taiwan / Taiwanese companies / underage recruits / Underage Workers / Veng Heang / Wing Star incident / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / Wing Star Shoes factory / worker rights / workers / working conditions / Ying Dong Administration official / Ying Dong Shoes Factory
Child labour is being used at a footwear factory owned by the same Taiwan-based company as Wing Star Shoes – where two workers were killed in a ceiling collapse this month – numerous employees have told the Post. A former Ying Dong employee said the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052965915/National/underage-overworked.html
Factories Asked to Voluntarily Assess Safety
- 28 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Labor
- Better Factories Cambodia / ceiling collapse / construction / construction firms / enginering firms / Factories / Factory collapse / factory construction / Footwear / Garment factories / Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia / Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia secretary general Ken Loo / garments / GMAC / GMAC Secretary General Ken Loo / health and safety / illegal construction / International Labor Organization / Ith Sam Heng / Ken Loo / Kompong Spue / Ministry of Labor / Ministry of Labour / Ministry of Labour secretary of state Oum Mean / Ministry of of Social Affairs / Oum Mean / shoes / Social Affairs Minister Ith Sam Heng / structural audits / Top World Garment (Cambodia) Ltd. / Top World garment factory / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / Wing Star Shoes factory
The Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia (GMAC) and International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia yesterday asked factory owners to voluntarily conduct structural audits on their buildings in light of building collapses at two garment factories that killed two people and injured 23. “In the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-asked-to-voluntarily-assess-safety-27319/
Family Accepts $9000 over Collapse Death
- 24 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources
- American Solidarity / American Solidarity Center director Dave Welsh / Bangladesh / compensation / construction / Dave Welsh / Factories / factory construction standards / Footwear / footwear factory / Garment Industry / garments / health and safety / health and safety regulations / illegal construction / Kompong Spue / Kompong Spue province / labor / labour / shoes / Solidarity Center / Wing Star Shoe factory / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / workers rights
The family of a worker who was killed when a ceiling collapsed at Kompong Spue province footwear factory lasts week has accepted 9,000 in compensation, and in return has agreed not file a complaint against the company, the deceased’s wife said yesterday. Rim Sarouen, 22, ...
Standards Building Up Safety Fears
- 22 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economy and commerce / Industries / Labor / Manufacturing / Real estate
- Alassane Sow / Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia / Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia (BWTUFC) / Building Safety Regulations / BWTUFC / Cambodia / construction / construction standards / Department of Land Management / Department of Land Management Deputy Director / Factories / Factory collapse / Garment factories / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia / garment workers / GMAC / health and safety / health and safety regulations / illegal construction / Inspectors / Ken Loo / Ministry of Land Management / Ministry of Land Management Inspectors / Ministry of Social Affairs / Phnom Penh / Phnom Penh City Hall / Phnom Penh City Hall / Regulations / safety / safety measures / Sar Bamnong / Sen Sok district / Shoddy Construction / Shoe factories / shoes / Structural Failure / Subcontractors / Top World / Top World Garment (Cambodia) Ltd. / Van Thol / Wing Star Shoe factory / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / World Bank / World Bank Country Manager Alassane Sow
When a 100-metre-long section of a Phnom Penh garment factory crumpled in on itself like a cheap pup tent, Sen Sok district officials promised an investigation. The results of that investigation, which was to have taken place more than a year ago, in March 2012, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052265780/National/standards-building-up-safety-fears.html
Factory Dining Hall Collapses in Phnom Penh; 23 injured
- 21 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Clothes / Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Garments and textiles / Industries / Labor / Manufacturing / Phnom Penh
- ASICS / ASICS spokesman Katsumi Funakoshi / CNRP / Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union / Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union representative Seang Yon / commune chief Mao Rith / compensation / construction / construction standards / Factories / Factory collapse / factory working conditions / Gap / Garment factories / garment production / garment production chain / garment workers / garments / health and saftey / illegal building construction / Japanese aid / Japanese sports brand / Kampong Cham Provincial Governor Kuoch Chamroeun / Katsumi Funakoshi / Kbal Koh commune / Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital / Kompong Speu / Kompong Speu Province / labor / labour / Mao Rith / Meanchey District / Ministry of Labor / Ministry of Labor secretary of state Oum Mean / Ministry of Labour / Ministry of Labour secretary of state Oum Mean / Mu Sochua / Oum Mean / Phnom Penh / Phnom Penh District Governor Kuoch Chamroeun / Production / production chain / safety building regulations / Seang Yon / Shoe factories / shoes / Top World Garment (Cambodia) Ltd. / U.S. / US / Wing Star Shoe factory / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / worker rights
The dining hall of a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district that supplies clothes to U.S. brand Gap collapsed into a pond Monday, injuring more than 20 workers who were eating lunch, workers and officials said. The hall, which is part of Top World Garment ...
Factory Orders Staff Back to Work Amid Safety Concerns
- 20 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Labor
- American Center for International Labor Solidarity Country Manager David Welsh / ASICS / ASICS spokesman Katsumi Funakoshi / building permits / Calmette hospital / Community Legal Education Center / Community Legal Education Center labor program head Moeun Tola / Community Legal Education Centre / Community Legal Education Centre labour programme head Moeun Tola / compensation / construction / construction standards / David Welsh / Factories / Factory collapse / factory construction / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia / Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia chairman Van Sou Leng / health and safety regulations / illegal construction / Im Chhun Lim / Japanese aid / Japanese sports brand ASICS / Katsumi Funakoshi / Kobe / Kompong Speu / Kompong Speu Province / Kompong Speu provincial construction department / Kompong Speu provincial construction department bureau chief Mam Narey / Kompong Speu provincial department of land management / Kong Pisei district / labor / labor rights / labour / labour rights / Ly Hour / Mam Narey / Minister of Land Management Im Chhun Lim / Ministry of Land Management / Moeun Tola / Phnom Penh / Shoe factories / shoes / Van Sou Leng / Wing Star factory / Wing Star Shoes / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / Wing Star Shoes factory representative Ly Hour / worker conditions / worker rights
Employees at a Taiwanese-owned shoe factory in Kompong Speu province where two workers were killed when one of the building’s floors collapsed on Thursday have been ordered back to work today, despite ongoing concerns from labor activists about the building’s safety. While conceding that some parts ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factory-orders-staff-back-to-work-amid-safety-concerns-25192/
After Factory Collapse, Questions Mount Over ILO Monitoring
- 17 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Development policy and administration / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Labor / Labor policy and administration / Law and judiciary / Safety and health at work
- American Center for International Labor Solidarity / American Center for International Labor Solidarity Country Manager David Welsh / Bangladesh / Better Factories Cambodia / Better Factories Cambodia program / Community Legal Education Center / Community Legal Education Center labor program head Moeun Tola / construction standards / David Welsh / Factory collapse / factory construction / factory construction standards / factory working conditions / Garment factories / Garment Industry / health and safety laws / health and safety standards / health and safty / International Labor Organization / Kompong Speu / Kompong Speu Province / Kong Pisei district / labor / labor rights / Leng Tong / Ministry of Labor / Ministry of Labor’s occupational safety and health department / Ministry of Labor’s occupational safety and health department director Leng Tong / Moeun Tola / Monitoring in the Dark / Monitoring in the Dark Report / safety regulations / shoes / Solidarity Center / Stanford University Law School / transparency / Wing Star factory / Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd / working conditions
Labor rights activists and a government official accused the International Labor Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia program of ineffectiveness in its monitoring of factory conditions following a deadly ceiling collapse on Thursday at a shoe factory in Kompong Speu province. Moeun Tola, labor program head of the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-factory-collapse-questions-mount-over-ilo-monitoring-24860/