Government to Consider New Minimum Wage
The Ministry of Social Affairs on Friday established four sub-committees tasked with finding a new minimum wage for the country’s 300,000-plus garment factory workers, Minister Ith Sam Heng said on Friday. “The sub-committees have a limited time of five weeks for research before they have to find a result,” Mr. Sam Heng said after a meeting with union representatives and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) on Friday, adding that a joint decision on a new minimum wage would be agreed upon in November. Wages could be raised as early as January, the minister said. … The government’s renewed interest in the welfare of the country’s garment factory labor force follows after Prime Minister Hun Sen’s long-ruling CPP took a hammering in the July 28 national election. Prior to the election, Mr. Hun Sen had said it was impossible to raise garment workers’ salaries to a then-demanded of $150 per month. The sub-committees, which will have members from the Labor Ministry, Social Affairs Ministry, GMAC and union representatives, will be tasked with researching the factories’ real production prices, garment worker incomes and current living expenses as well as working standards in factories. … The opposition CNRP had promised in its election campaign to ensure a much higher minimum wage for garment factory workers if they defeated the CPP and take power. …
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-to-consider-new-minimum-wage-42317/
