ព័ត៌មាន
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
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
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/
Cambodia’s garment industry expanding
Both exports and imports of garment materials rose more than 17 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, reflecting a growth in Cambodia’s biggest industry. Exports of garment and textile materials went up by 17.5 per cent ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060466032/Business/cambodia-s-garment-industry-expanding.html
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/
Factories Asked to Voluntarily Assess Safety
The Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia (GMAC) and International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia yesterday asked factory owners to voluntarily conduct structural audits on their buildings in light of building collapses at two garment factories that killed two people and injured 23. “In the ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-asked-to-voluntarily-assess-safety-27319/
Cambodia: A rising star with a falling reputation?
Cambodia’s reputation as a standard-bearer for apparel workers’ rights is wearing thin – and yet the country is a rising star when it comes to attracting foreign investment and increasing exports. There are many reasons to deter brands and retailers from sourcing clothing in Cambodia. The Kingdom ...
http://www.just-style.com/analysis/a-rising-star-with-a-falling-reputation_id117944.aspx
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
Cambodian factory deaths shine spotlight on conditions
The deaths of at least two Cambodian workers and injuries sustained by 10 colleagues at a shoe factory southwest of Phnom Penh once more shine a light on conditions in the global garment manufacturing industry. Thursday’s accident at the Wing Star Shoe factory in the Cambodian ...
http://www.dw.de/cambodian-factory-deaths-shine-spotlight-on-conditions/a-16819017
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
AFD in talks over power lines
The French Development Agency (AFD) said yesterday it is discussing an approximately 50 million euro ($65 million) loan to extend electricity transmission lines, and said it plans to provide more loans for vocational training in the Kingdom. “We are discussing [the] loan . . . that ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013050165342/Business/afd-in-talks-over-power-lines.html
Made in Cambodia: Foreign Industry Calls on Cambodia as the Next “Low-Cost” Alternative in All Things Manufacturing
About a decade ago, global manufacturing firms staged a mass exodus to Asia in search of low-cost alternatives to increasing domestic wage demands and operational costs. The consensus was the continued development of a regional supply chain that had formed in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, ...
Cambodian Garment Exports likely to Grow in 2013: GMAC
Cambodian garment exports are expected to grow in 2013 with the increasing foreign investments along with focus on new market including Japan and China, according to the Garment Manufactures Association of Cambodia (GMAC). In 2012, apparel exports of Cambodia grew nine percent to US$ 4.61 ...
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 ...
Bountiful work, but scant wages angers Cambodia
As night falls in Phonm Penh, thousands of weary workers stream from textile factories, reflecting the abundance of jobs created by the clothing industry’s desire for cheap labor. However, as the number of international clothes companies tapping into Cambodia’s workforce grows, so does anger at the ...
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2013/03/17/2003557254