Labor Ministry Says Brands Hold Key to Wages
The minimum wage for garment factory workers can only be raised if international clothing brands sourcing from Cambodia pay more for their products, a Ministry of Labor official said Tuesday. Khieu Savuth, chief of the Ministry of Labor’s labor conflict commission, laid down the challenge a day after Swedish retail giant H&M announced a push for countries they source from to instate a fair living wage by 2018. “Even if we tell the garment factories to raise the wage, if the buyers don’t raise the price, how can the factory pay for it?” Mr. Savuth asked. “Raising the wage for workers depends on the buyers.” H&M, the world’s second-largest clothing retailer by sales, announced Monday on their website that it is launching a plan to enable garment workers, specifically in Cambodia, to receive a “fair living wage” by 2018. … Dave Welsh, country head for the Solidarity Center, an affiliate of the U.S.-based American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization, said H&M’s announcement is a tacit agreement with unions that the wages in Cambodia are currently not high enough. H&M’s public pledge could encourage other brands to follow its lead, Mr. Welsh said. …
Dene-Hern Chen and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/labor-ministry-says-brands-hold-key-to-wages-47966/
