ព័ត៌មាន
Garment grievances to be aired
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
Garment Sector Stable Despite Workers Leaving Jobs
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) yesterday said a recent exodus of workers from factories in Phnom Penh to the provinces over concerns related to a recent military build up in the capital would not threaten stability in the sector. Ken Loo, secretary-general of GMAC, ...
Workers claim intimidation
About 4,000 employees at one of Asia’s largest garment-processing factories have stopped work, as union workers demand the company sever ties with a shareholder who ordered a military police presence there. Workers at SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd began demonstrating on Monday, about two weeks after ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-claim-intimidation
Factory production sluggish
In the wake of last month’s election, production levels at Cambodian garment factories are still below the norm as lingering fears of political unrest keep workers at home and away from the capital. Shrugged off at the outset as a natural byproduct of the election that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/factory-production-sluggish
Fear keeps workers at home
When the garment factory that employs her opened its doors yesterday for the first time since Sunday’s election, Chan Neoun was about 130 kilometres away, at home in Svay Rieng province. Intense rioting and a military crackdown were just some of the rumours flying around ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/fear-keeps-workers-home
Asian garment industry to undergo further segmentation
The Asian garment manufacturing industry will undergo further segmentation in the next three to four years as competition becomes more intense, experts said. China, Thailand and Vietnam will mainly produce high-end clothing, while Bangladesh, Laos, Burma and Cambodia will mainly produce low-end clothing. Lu Qijian, ...
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2013-07/15/content_16778408.htm
Real Wages in Garment Sector Fell Over 10 Years
Wages for Cambodian garment workers decreased by more than 20 percent in real terms between 2001 and 2011 despite the industry’s exponential increase in exports, which in 2012 were valued at more than $4 billion, according to a recent report by a U.S.-based workers advocacy ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/wages-in-garment-sector-fell-22-over-10-years-34788/
Cambodia Falls Short as Garment-Industry Model
This small Southeast Asian country was supposed to become a model for the world apparel industry, with tough factory monitoring and strong worker protections. But a dozen years after the United Nations’ International Labour Organization launched a program to manage Cambodia’s booming garment trade—the first of ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324423904578521240151597504.html
Map connects factories and buyers
In light of ongoing disputes over working conditions in the garment sector, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) released yesterday details on hundreds of factories it believes will offer greater transparency along the garment supply chain – from producers to buyers – and shine ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070166578/Business/map-connects-factories-and-buyers.html
Municipal officials given a larger hand in labour disputes
Continuing its efforts to quell an increasing number of strikes in the Kingdom’s lucrative garment sector, the government this week issued a directive aimed at giving provincial and municipal governors powers to resolve issues at factories without calling on ministries in Phnom Penh. “To ensure further ...
Unions Trade Barbs Over Violent Factory Strike
Two rival workers unions continued to trade barbs Thursday, each blaming the other for a violent clash between striking garment workers and police at a factory in Kompong Speu province on Monday that saw eight people arrested. The Free Trade Union (FTU) has led strikes for ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/unions-trade-barbs-over-violent-factory-strike-29833/
Pirated Software May Threaten Garment Firms
Garment factories run the risk of having their cargo confiscated by U.S. customs authorities if they continue using pirated computer software in their administrative operations, and may be prosecuted under a law that requires all manufacturers to use licensed digital software, according to a local ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/pirated-software-may-threaten-garment-firms-28459/
Underage, Overworked
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
Standards Building Up Safety Fears
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
Fear Remains as Factory Reopens
More than 20 people fainted yesterday at the Wing Star Shoes factory in Kampong Speu province, where two workers were crushed to death in a ceiling collapse last Thursday. Workers and union officials said an electrical short-circuit scared workers returning for the first time since the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052165744/National/fear-remains-as-factory-reopens.html
Accident rocks garment industry again
For the second time in five days, Cambodia’s garment industry has been rocked by another partial collapse of a structure at a factory. Garment workers are reporting that at least 10 people, including a pregnant woman, have been injured after a concrete platform collapsed into a ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065721/National/accident-rocks-garment-industry-again.html
Factory Orders Staff Back to Work Amid Safety Concerns
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/
Ceiling Collapse at Shoe Factory in Cambodia Kills 2
A ceiling at a small factory making shoes on the outskirts of the capital of Cambodia collapsed on Thursday morning, killing at least two workers and underlining global worries about factory safety in poor countries. Ken Loo, the secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in ...
Bangladesh woes spare Kingdom
A recent string of disasters rocking Bangladesh’s garment industry has highlighted its factories’ shocking safety record, and stoked optimism that giant fashion brands will flock to move their orders to countries like Cambodia. But Cambodia’s garment industry has not experienced any major deluge of business so ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013051665643/Business/bangladesh-woes-spare-kingdom.html
Workers not allowed to march on Labor Day
Around 20,000 workers from the garment, construction, tourism, banking, service and agriculture sectors want to march to present a petition to the National Assembly on International Labor Day, May 1, but Phnom Penh City Hall did not approve the rally. City hall asked them to wait ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YWNjNWUyNzMwYmE
Labour orders issued by PM
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday issued extensive orders to unions, factories, workers and authorities to rid the garment industry of violent strikes, roadblocks and rights violations he says are threatening public order. “There have been many strikes and demonstrations at factories recently, and, in some cases, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032964789/National/labour-orders-issued-by-pm.html
Cambodia Ups Minimum Wages for Workers
The Cambodian government on Thursday announced a higher minimum wage of U.S. $80 per month for garment and footwear workers but they were not impressed, vowing to continue a strike until it is raised to U.S. $100. A tripartite meeting between the government, unions and Garment ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/wages-03212013185628.html
Majority of Unions Reduce Wage Demands
Six of the 10 labor unions negotiating with the country’s garment manufacturers over a new minimum wage for factory workers dropped their demands yesterday to $73 per month, breaking previous commitments by unions to stand at $91. Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association ...
Myanmar’s siren song
Unions and labour rights groups have spent recent months unashamedly drilling home a stark reminder: Cambodia’s minimum garment wage, at $61 per month, compares poorly with those in Thailand – where workers earn more than $200 a month – and Vietnam, which has a base ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031861998/National/myanmar-s-siren-song.html