Labor policy and administration

Labour rights abuses are taking place at Cambodian supplier factories for US clothing retailer Gap Inc, according to a new report, the latest in a series aimed at bringing attention to perennially poor conditions in the Kingdom’s garment industry ahead of the International Labour Organization’s ...

Negotiations between former drivers of the Capitol Bus Company and their ex-employer, mediated by Prampi Makara district authorities, yielded no settlement yesterday, although both parties agreed to continue talks.   ...

Fifty Dangkor district security guards removed their uniforms in front of the district hall yesterday morning in protest for better pay and conditions.   ...

Officials at the Ministry of Justice will join members of the Labor Ministry, local authorities, police and provincial governors on the Committee for the Settlement of Strikes and Demonstrations after a union leader requested they be included. ...

Swedish apparel giant H&M yesterday responded to a new report that alleged labour rights abuses in its Cambodian supplier factories by saying such issues plagued the entire industry and were difficult for any one company to fix.   ...

A new report has alleged labour rights abuses at Cambodian supplier factories for apparel giant H&M, as more than 500 garment workers gathered in Phnom Penh yesterday to air some of the same concerns over working conditions during a workers’ forum.   ...

Garment workers across the Kingdom will receive health insurance from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) by 2018, according to officials. ...

The Labor Ministry has called for improvements to workplace safety in response to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report stating that 181 workers died in more than 30,000 workplace accidents across the Kingdom last year, according to officials. ...

In order to promote and protect the rights of migrants and migrant workers, Cambodia and the Philippines held their first bilateral roundtable meeting over migration earlier this week. ...

Fifty-four illegal migrant workers who were kept in Pontianak in Indonesia after being rescued from three Thai fishing boats in mid-April will return home soon, officials said. ...

The labor minister has ordered workers’ identities to be re-registered with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), according to a statement released yesterday and signed by Ith Samheng, the Minister for Labor. ...

Thousands of workers and unions gathered yesterday to celebrate the 130th International Labor Day, once again demanding the government raise the minimum wage in the garment and footwear industries to $207 a month. ...

More than a dozen employees fired from a Phnom Penh eatery on Monday after a dispute over pay during the Khmer New Year holiday were rehired on Tuesday following a protest that prompted negotiations with their employer, according to union representatives and Labor Ministry officials. ...

More than 400 workers at the South Korean-owned Dae Kwang Garment factory protested at the Canadia Industrial Park yesterday demanding unpaid salaries after the factory’s owner disappeared. ...

Preah Vihear’s deputy governor has vowed not to let protesters near Prime Minister Hun Sen as he cuts the ribbon on a $360 million sugar mill in Tbeng Meanchey district today. ...

Following the National Assembly’s passage of the draft trade union law last week, the Senate is set to take up the law today, with the permanent committee scheduled to discuss it followed by a vote on Tuesday, said the Senate’s secretary-general Oum Sarith.   ...

The Free Trade Union has asked Labour Minister Ith Samheng to intervene in the case of two union leaders it alleges were illegally fired by Horizon Outdoor (Cambodia), a Kampong Chhnang province bag and accessories factory. ...

Former Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and labor activist Ros Siphay were released on bail Wednesday, nearly two months after they were arrested for taking part in a demonstration against the company during which protesters were attacked by a mob of angry tuk-tuk drivers. ...

The increase in the government-set minimum wage in the garment sector and lower prices have hit the bottom line of Grand Twins International (GTI), the only company in the sector listed on the stock exchange. The company yesterday reported revenue for the year ended December 31 ...

Conflicting versions of events emerged yesterday after a Battambang man was found dead in a disused gold-mining pit in the province’s Phnom Proek district.   ...

As the National Assembly finally comes face to face with the draft union law today, it is unclear whether opposition lawmakers will vote against the contentious legislation. Independent trade unions, meanwhile, are planning a protest outside parliament. ...

With the National Assembly set to vote on whether to adopt the controversial trade union law on Monday, the majority of Cambodia’s industrial workers remain unaware of the crossroads at which Cambodia’s employers and workers stand.   ...

The Ministry of Labour has urged the garment industry to take adequate health and safety measures to compensate for what they say is already an unusually hot dry season. ...

A former Capitol Bus Company employee was charged with defamation on Saturday after he was arrested in Battambang for handing out leaflets asking people to boycott the company. ...