Cambodia’s garment industry at crossroads
Nun Vanak is an excellent example of how Cambodia’s garment manufacturing industry has helped to change lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this country. The 23-year-old is part of Cambodia’s half-a-million-strong workforce – mostly young women – that keeps these garment factories running. Her income helps to provide for her and her young daughter, and like many others in the factories, she also sends money to her family back home in the village – a trend that has helped boost rural incomes. But ask Nun, or her friends, whether they would want their daughters to end up as factory workers in the garment industry and the answer is a vehement no. … Strikes and violent demonstrations at garment factories in Cambodia have quadrupled over the past year, and a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that conditions at factories were worse now than they had been in recent years. … Nun and her friends say they make $74 (£48) a month as garment factory workers – that’s less than Cambodia’s official minimum wage of $80 a month. With overtime, the women can sometimes bring home $100 a month – still far less than what garment workers in other parts of Asia earn. … The sector, which accounts for 80% of Cambodia’s total exports, is the lifeline of the country’s economy. However, the majority of factory owners in Cambodia are foreign. They have seen their businesses grow, thanks to a combination of low wages and a government keen on encouraging private enterprise. … International observers say it is unlikely the stand-off between workers and factory owners is going to end soon. “I do believe that wages haven’t kept up with inflation and that is very challenging for garment workers,” says Jill Tucker, the chief technical adviser with the ILO’s Better Factories programme in Cambodia. “As such, I think the demonstrations in Cambodia are going to continue for some time.” …
