ព័ត៌មាន
Faintings in Cambodian ‘model’ factories raise concern
A lobby group says three separate mass fainting incidents this week that took place at two Cambodian garment factories “speaks volumes” about the issue, because both workplaces have relatively good reputations for worker’s rights. More than 140 workers fainted on Wednesday and Thursday at Kandal’s QMI ...
Unionists cry foul over rejection
K-Cement workers who were told they could not form a company-wide union because their workplaces were “separate” entities have now had their application to register individual unions rejected by the Ministry of Labour, union leaders said yesterday. Sok Kin, vice president of the Building and Woodworkers ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020161139/National/unionists-cry-foul-over-rejection.html
Striking Casino Workers Court Ordered Back to Work
The Banteay Meanchey provincial court has ordered casino workers in a border town to resume work, following a five day strike over poor working conditions. The provincial court judge, Pich Vicheathor, told workers they must resume their work or be fired, workers said. The workers say ...
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/striking-casino-workers-court-ordered-back-to-work/1563653.html
PM urges factories to up wages
As the lure of Thailand grows increasingly attractive for cash-strapped and under-employed Cambodians, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday made a public appeal for workers to stay in the country, simultaneously urging the Cambodian market to up its competitive edge. In a speech at the inauguration of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/National/pm-urges-factories-to-up-wages.html
Pregnancy terminated in bid to regain old job
A woman fired from the Conpress Holding garment factory last week said she terminated her pregnancy of three months on Sunday in a desperate bid to gain reinstatement for herself and three other workers fired last week for unionising. Huk Pov, Free Trade Union president ...
Maids find local Champion
The abuse of Cambodian maids overseas has become one of the most documented human rights violation here. But as the Government, media, NGOs and aid agencies focus their energies on domestic laborer living abroad, advocates have begun to urge that closer attention be paid to ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012111359705/National-news/maids-find-local-champion.html
Last Tai Yang Strikers Hoping for Resolution
Workers who were left stranded after protests at three Tai Yang Enterprises garment factories dragged on for months earlier this year were waiting for a long awaited resolution when they attended the arbitration yesterday. The 53 employees of the Kandal provincial factory, which supplies Levi’s and ...
Five workers injured as lift plummets from third floor
Five workers riding a lift meant to carry animal carcasses up to the fifth floor of a meat roasting facility were left with serious injuries when their metal cage plummeted from the third floor. The five victims, aged from 25 to 38, suffered broken legs ...
Civil servants' union dilemma
The American Center for International Labor Solidarity has set its sights on the Herculean task of unionizing Cambodia’s civil service, a move that, were it successful, could have profound implications for the country’s political landscape. The term civil service in Cambodia has unusually broad application, referring to bureaucrats, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012103059469/National-news/civil-servants-union-dilemma.html
Questions over bonuses
Unions and labour groups fear a solitary sick day could cost garment workers their entire month’s attendance bonuses – about 15 per cent of their base wage – under a new scheme meant to make life easier. The Kingdom’s 600,000 garment and footwear workers will receive ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012090558510/National-news/questions-over-bonuses.html
Still no motion on union law
As the latest draft of Cambodia’s long-awaited trade-union law sits idly at the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Labour officials have turned to outsiders to help hasten its enactment, a union advocate said yesterday. Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012090458479/National-news/still-no-motion-on-union-law.html
Letter holds key for Tai Yang
It’s been marked by violence, fervent protests and a stream of recriminations, but now bureaucracy is hampering efforts to resolve the seven-week-long strike at the Tai Yang and Camwell factories, which supply Levi’s and Gap, a trade-union advocate said yesterday. Dave Welsh, country director of the American ...
Restoration Fund Meets With Labor Union Over Wage Hike
A meeting between the New York-based World Monument Fund (WMF) and its workers who are restoring temples in Siem Reap province took place on Friday, but no agreement was reached over wages, a union representative said yesterday. Van Thol, vice president of the Building and Wood ...
Factories still skimping: ILO
Cambodia’s garment exports exceeded US$1 billion during the first quarter of 2012, yet many factories are failing to pay workers proper maternity leave benefits or address issues of fainting, a labour report says. The International Labour Organization-Better Factories Cambodia’s Twenty Eighth Synthesis Report on Working Conditions ...
Factory Says Buyers Will Go to Burma if Protests Continue
A representative of a factory that produces clothing for international clothing brands H&M, Gap and Levi Strauss warned yesterday that its buyers will place orders elsewhere if the strike for higher wages and benefits in its two factories continues. An official at the American Center for ...
Aun Pheap and Dene-Hern Chen, P. 24
http://www.cambodiadaily.com
Brands proving free lunches might exist
Major international garment and shoe brands have expressed interest in funding a food program that would feed Cambodian factory workers lunches in an effort to improve health and productivity, a labour advocate said on Wednesday. Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for International Labor ...
Workers waiting for a bargain
Informal workers, a class that includes beer promoters, tuk tuk drivers and farmers, are among those who stand to benefit most from the upcoming trade-union law, observers say – and workers say it can’t come soon enough. Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for ...
With broad mandate, group to represent migrant workers
As reports continue to flood in detailing rampant abuse of Cambodian migrant workers abroad, the Cambodian Migrant Workers’ Association (CMWA) said it would be registering with the Ministry of Interior today as the country’s first migrant workers representative organisation, according to its director. “The idea is ...
Observers call for the inclusion of civil servants in union law
Experts yesterday urged the Ministry of Labor to extend the latest draft of a forthcoming trade union law to include civil servants, who are currently shut out of the law in contravention of international conventions Rong Chhun, president of both the Cambodian Confederation of Unions and ...
Country’s Buyers Discuss Faintings, Union Law
Multiple government ministries and the International Labor organization will form a group to investigate the mass fainting that have plagued Cambodia’s garment industry over the past several months, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said yesterday. There have been at least 15 mass fainting since the beginning ...
Issues Remain as Union Law Enters Final Phase
As the creation of Cambodia’s first law on trade unions enters a final phase this week, labor activists and unions said the draft law as it stands is in urgent need of revision, as it would cripple unions and severely undermine collective bargaining rights. They ...