ពលកម្ម
សហជីព
Out with the old: factory
Amid concerns of legal violations on the part of their employer, about 400 workers at the USA Fully Field garment factory in the capital’s Meanchey district accepted payouts for their factory closing – even though it hasn’t. Workers protested last week in fear that the factory ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/out-old-factory
Stones, bottles traded at SL Garment protest
Broken bottles and stones flung by security guards at striking garment workers who blocked the road in front of the factory yesterday morning injured about 10 people, worker representatives said. The attack allegedly occurred at around 7:30 am, after about 500 employees at SL Garment Processing ...
Mom Kunthear, P.5
http://www.phnompenhpost.com
USA garment factory workers block national road
Nearly 400 workers at the USA Fully Field (Cambodia) Garment factory blocked National Road 2 in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district yesterday after fears spread that the factory was winding down operations and that management wouldn’t pay necessary wages once it closed. Soy Nakri, a worker representative ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/usa-garment-factory-workers-block-national-road
Sabrina workers out after months in jail
Eight unionists locked in prison in Kampong Speu province since violent clashes at the Sabrina Garment factory in May and June were released on bail yesterday, court and union officials said. Cheum Rithy, a provincial judge, said he had decided to release the eight Free Trade ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sabrina-workers-out-after-months-jail
Police Train at Freedom Park as Protesters Target Hun Sen’s House
As hundreds of riot police conducted protest suppression drills in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Monday morning, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s mansion in the center of the city was the focal point of a demonstration by some 2,000 garment factory workers. Municipal police, along with 16 ...
Aun Pheap and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-train-at-freedom-park-as-protesters-target-hun-sens-house-2-45638/
Cambodian trade unions urge garment workers not to join opposition’s mass protest next week
A Cambodian trade unions leader on Saturday called on garment workers not to participate in the opposition party-planned mass demonstration next week against the results of July’s election that handed victory to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party. “I would like to appeal to all workers ...
Nzweek News Staff
http://www.nzweek.com/world/cambodian-trade-unions-urge-garment-workers-not-to-join-oppositions-mass-protest-next-week-90198/
Labour Ministry told to keep SL talks alive
In a letter sent to the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training last week, the Council of Ministers encourages the ministry to facilitate talks between garment factory management and the union representing thousands of workers on strike for nearly two months. The letter, written by Council ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/labour-ministry-told-keep-sl-talks-alive
Unionists to await trial from jail cell
Eight unionists charged with incitement after a strike at Kampong Speu province’s Sabrina Garment factory will remain in custody after the Supreme Court yesterday denied their request for bail. Presiding Judge Cheum Rithy yesterday said the court is nearly finished questioning witnesses, and that the ...
Mom Kunthear, P.3
http://www.phnompenhpost.com
Tougher laws for recruiters
A new set of prakases tacked onto a law that regulates overseas employment recruitment agencies is a “step in the right direction” towards protecting some of Cambodia’s most vulnerable citizens from scams and abuse, local and international NGOs said yesterday. But some remain unconvinced that the ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tougher-laws-recruiters
ILO Initiative Could Unravel Cambodia’s Garment Industry: Manufacturers
A move by the International Labour Organization to name and shame garment producers in Cambodia that flout workers’ rights and safety standards could damage the industry’s reputation and result in a drastic reduction in orders from buyers abroad, according to a senior manufacturing official. Last week, ...
Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/initiative-10042013150820.html
Monitor, GMAC at odds over plan
The head of the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program said yesterday that consultations on its new public-disclosure initiative have been going on for more than a year, contrary to claims by a garment factory representative who characterised the process as hasty. Jill Tucker, chief technical adviser ...
Daniel de Carteret and May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/monitor-gmac-odds-over-plan
Home for the holidays
Still agitated 20 minutes after the rally in front of SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd had dispersed yesterday, Choem Som Im held up seven fingers as she jerked her arms forward and spoke in an equally sharp tone. The dilemma, faced by many garment workers, ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/home-holidays
Levi Strauss Pulls Out From Embattled SL Garment Factory
A Singaporean-owned garment factory whose workers have been on strike since early August is no longer producing clothes for American denim giant Levi Strauss, a brand representative and a factory worker said Monday. The workers of SL Garment Factory in Meanchey district—which still makes clothes for ...
Aun Pheap and Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/levi-strauss-pulls-out-from-embattled-sl-garment-factory-44015/
Union wary of possible crackdown
Preparing for a demonstration expected to draw thousands of garment workers this morning, Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said yesterday that he feared the possibility of a heavy-handed military police response. About 4,000 workers gathered at SL ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-wary-possible-crackdown
Jubilation as Pair Acquitted of Union Leader’s Assassination
Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, the men wrongfully sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2004 murder of Free Trade Union (FTU) leader Chea Vichea, were exonerated Wednesday by the Supreme Court of the crime. Responding to the acquittal, Chea Vichea’s brother, Chea Mony, ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/jubilation-as-pair-acquitted-of-union-leaders-assassination-43396/
Opposition Party Threatens Nationwide Labor Strikes
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Wednesday announced that his party could stage nationwide labor strikes in protest of disputed election results, and said the CNRP would begin an international campaign to make the CPP government a pariah state. “In the air is an idea of ...
Phorn Bopha and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/opposition-party-threatens-nationwide-labor-strikes-43403/
Cambodia’s high court drops case against men wrongly jailed for 2004 murder of labor activist
Cambodia’s Supreme Court ordered the release of two men Wednesday who were wrongly convicted and jailed for the 2004 murder of a prominent opposition activist. The court’s decision to drop all charges came amid renewed calls to free the men, whom leading international rights groups have ...
The Washington Post News Staff
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/cambodias-high-court-drops-case-against-men-wrongly-jailed-for-2004-murder-of-labor-activist/2013/09/25/2170fc90-25c2-11e3-9372-92606241ae9c_story.html
Cambodian Garment Factories Come Under Scrutiny
A monitoring group backed by the United Nations said it would begin to publicize garment factories’ compliance with worker rights and safety standards in Cambodia, a controversial program that its organizers say will be the world’s most extensive initiative to improve working conditions at plants. The ...
Kate O'keeffe
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303818704579089810120675896.html
Strike at SL eats into profits
Because of ongoing strikes and an inability to fill orders, SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) says it is shedding cash flow as buyers shift away from one of Asia’s largest producers, factory management confirmed yesterday. International brands H&M and Gap reduced their orders, while Levi’s ceased buying ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/strike-sl-eats-profits
Questions over strike violence
A Kampong Speu judge released the vice-president and a member of the Free Trade Union on bail yesterday after the court questioned the two about their alleged roles in a violent demonstration at Sabrina Garment factory. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/questions-over-strike-violence
Shuttered schools, factories
With only about 10 per cent of its 1,000-person workforce at their stations by 8am yesterday, management at Hoyear (Cambodia) Garment Ltd cut its losses and announced that the factory would close for the next two days. Thousands across the capital opted out of work ...
Sean Teehan, Laignee Barron and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/shuttered-schools-factories
Government to Consider New Minimum Wage
The Ministry of Social Affairs on Friday established four sub-committees tasked with finding a new minimum wage for the country’s 300,000-plus garment factory workers, Minister Ith Sam Heng said on Friday. “The sub-committees have a limited time of five weeks for research before they have to ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-to-consider-new-minimum-wage-42317/
Forward steps for garment salary raise
Four subcommittees formed by the Ministry of Social Affairs met on Friday to begin establishing a new minimum wage for garment workers that will go into effect next year. Following the meeting, Social Affairs Minister Ith Sam Heng told reporters that factory production rates, garment worker ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forward-steps-garment-salary-raise
Workers split on call to rally
Union workers and leaders appeared divided yesterday on the question of whether to support the opposition party’s planned three-day demonstration at Freedom Park. Campaign promises from the Cambodia National Rescue Party to raise minimum monthly salaries to $150 seemed to have struck a chord with garment ...
Chhay Channyda and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-split-call-rally