ពលកម្ម
NGOs Urge Cambodia, Malaysia to Agree on Maid Protection
More than 60 Cambodian and international human rights groups and trade unions yesterday called on Cambodia and Malaysia to reach a bilateral agreement that would guarantee strong labor rights and working conditions for Cambodian maids employed in Malaysia. “The time is ripe for the Cambodian ...
Hun Sen Blames Migration for Labor Shortage in Agriculture
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday blamed illegal immigration for contributing to a current shortage in the Cambodian labor market but said workers could benefit from rising wages as a result of the demand for workers. Mr. Hun Sen said the shortage was hitting the agriculture sector ...
Beer Promoters Allege Bias Following Strike
Beer promoters in Phnom Penh claimed Monday that they are being discriminated against for staging a month-long strike last summer, and their livelihoods are under threat. In July and August, hundreds of promoters for Cambrew Ltd – which produces and distributes Angkor beer – went ...
Gov't Launches Campaign to Clean Up Cities Nationwide
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said all of the country’s cities would compete with each other to beautify urban zones and attract more tourists in the newly devised Clean City contest. Nine Phnom Penh districts and 26 cities nationwide will be assessed on how clean ...
Gov't, NGOs Discuss Child Labor in Fisheries
Thousands of children are toiling in the country’s fisheries sector, living in conditions that are often hazardous to their health and depriving them of an education, government officials and UN representatives said yesterday at a workshop in Phnom Penh. Seventy-five percent of the 1.5 million ...
Puma officials go to Cambodia after factory shooting
German sportwear maker Puma sent officials to investigate working conditions in Cambodia after a local woman working for one of its suppliers was shot during a labour protest on Monday. The woman, who was employed by Kaoway Sports, was shot during a protest by employees of ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/23/puma-cambodia-idUSL5E8DN8S820120223
Child labor drains Kingdom
Child labour was draining the Kingdom’s brainpower and adversely affecting 750,000 of its children, officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday. Speaking at a three-day conference on child agricultural labour, Kaing Khim, deputy director-general of fisheries administration at the MAFF, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022354686/National-news/child-labour-drains-kingdom.html
Duty calls: Strikers told they must go back to work
The Arbitration Council yesterday ordered protesting workers in Kampong Cham province to return to their factory today, as a union official reported that their numbers had swelled to nearly 3,000 outside the provincial hall in their third demonstration this week over an ongoing labour dispute. Free ...
Chea Mony Resigns from Union Confederation Role
Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony said yesterday that he has split from longtime colleague Rong Chhun by stepping down from his position in the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU). Mr. Mony said he had resigned on Friday from his position as Secretary-General of the ...
Angkor Village strikers sued
The foreign owner of a luxury Siem Reap hotel has sued four workers he sacked last year, alleging they damaged his property during protests in which they accused him of firing them for unionising. In total, 67 workers were sacked last year by Ankor Village Hotel ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022054601/National-news/angkor-village-strikers-sued.html
Workers Call For Factory Official to Go
More than 1000 factory workers protested in Phnom Penh yesterday outside the Sun Well Shoes Company factory in Pur Senchey district, demanding higher wages and the dismissal of the factory’s administration chief, union representatives said. Tep Saroeun, a union representative at Sun Well Shoes Company in ...
Factory for named brands slammed for faintings
Low wages and a lack of occupational health and safety measures led to a mass fainting on Tuesday at a Phnom Penh garment factory that produces clothes for well-known brands Wal-Mart, Target and Reebok, according to a statement released by the Community Legal Education Center ...
Thailand and Cambodia in talks over demand for migrant labor
Thailand has appealed to Cambodia to send more migrant workers to the country due to a high demand for labor following last year’s devastating floods, while Cambodia has in turn asked that Thailand render the migration process safer, speedier and cheaper, Choub Narth, deputy director ...
Garment, shoe exports set to surpass $4bn
Buoyed by strong demand from the economies of Europe and North America, the total amount of garment, shoe and textile exports that left Cambodia last year was on target to surpass the $4 billion mark, dwarfing 2010’s total of $2.88 billion, the Garment Manufacturers Association ...
Gov't, NGOs, firms finalize migrant contract
After a year of mounting concern over the treatment of migrant workers both within and outside Cambodia, the Ministry of Labor, NGOs and recruitment agencies yesterday reached an agreement on standardized contracts aimed at minimizing the possibility for exploitation. The groups agreed on a contract between ...
Abby Seiff and Cheng Sokhorng, p.25
Unions seek changes to labour law
Union leaders are calling for 10 changes to be made to the draft law that will regulate them, including allowing civil servants to form unions, they said yesterday, following a letter calling for two ministers to intervene late last week. The Cambodian Trade Union Coordination Council ...
Unions to request litany of changes to draft law
A group of five unions plans to send a petition to the Ministry of Labor on Friday requesting a number of changes in the controversial draft union law. Speaking at a conference in Phnom Penh yesterday, Cambodian Confederation of Unions President Rong Chhun detailed the requests ...
Union heads rally to end short-term contracts
Seven union leaders representing garment workers will send a statement today urging the Ministry of Labor and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) to decrease the use of temporary labor contracts, because they erode the rights of workers, union leaders said yesterday. Rong Chhun, president ...
Krama petition urges government to abandon trio of laws
Rolling out what may be the world’s longest krama, some 130 protesters presented the National Assembly with a petition yesterday morning bearing thousands of thumbprints urging lawmakers not to pass a trio of pending laws. “We all urge the government to stop its attempt to pass ...
Unions cry foul on temp contracts
Union leaders gathered in the capital yesterday to discuss strategies to curb the garment industry’s widespread use of temporary contracts for hiring workers, saying employers were using them to discourage unions and ensure their workforce remained docile and easy to exploit. They also accused employers of ...
More fishermen repatriated
Another 30 Cambodian men among 65 rescued in Indonesia after being trafficked into work on fishing boats in Thailand were repatriated to the Kingdom yesterday, following the return of 30 such workers last week. The remaining five workers are set to be repatriated next month, Chiv ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011121353326/National-news/more-fishermen-repatriated.html
After Thai floods, flow of migrant labor soars
Thailand’s ongoing recovery efforts from recent flooding have led to a resurgence in the country’s demand for labor, resulting in a record number of Cambodian migrants crossing the border in search of work, officials and experts said yesterday. Ouk Keorattanak, Banteay Manteay provincial deputy administration chief, ...
Cambodia to send labour to Qatar
The government has approved Qatar as a destination for the growing number of Cambodian labourers seeking employment overseas. Workers will not be recruited for housekeeping services, however, private sector officials said. The abuse of maids in Malaysia – many of whom were reportedly under-aged – has ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011121253300/Business/cambodia-to-send-labour-to-qatar.html
Push to uncover fainting cause
The International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories program is seeking funding for a campaign to prevent “future fainting incidents” at the garment factories it monitors, following the release on Friday of the results of its investigation into them, according to a document obtained by the Post. The ...