Labor policy and administration

Since Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng announced in late-December that the ministry would hike the minimum monthly wage for the garment sector to $100, Nuch Sdoeung has, at times, questioned if he could even afford beef. The wage boost from the prior minimum wage ...

The number of workers fainting in garment and footwear factories halved in 2013, a National Social Security Fund (NSSF) report released last week claims – a decline the Ministry of Labour puts down to increased education. The NSSF, which is part of the ministry, recorded 823 ...

As lawyers for 21 defendants denied bail by the Court of Appeal last week wait for the Supreme Court to respond to their appeals, the most high-profile of the detainees is speaking out via social media. On Friday night, Prak Sovannary, wife of Vorn Pov – ...

100,000 leaflets would be printed and distributed next week to garment workers in the country to urge them to join nationwide strike to put pressure on the government and the Cambodian courts to release 21 workers in jail and to increase the minimum wage of ...

Cambodia’s nine opposition-aligned trade unions warned on Wednesday that they will lead a large-scale strike in eight days from March 12 if their demands are not met, reports Vietnam News Agency (VNA). The unions have demanded that the court free 21 detained protesters and the government ...

After the Court of Appeal denied bail to 21 jailed protesters on Tuesday, 16 labor unions and associations announced Wednesday that they will retaliate by calling a nationwide labor strike in the middle of March. The unions, which mainly represent workers in the garment industry, said ...

The Government of Cambodia is making efforts at minimum wage reform, and it has set up a committee to study the minimum wage at garment manufacturing units as a way of continually working to increase it, Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng while unveiling the Ministry’s ...

Workers from Galey & Lord factory producing jeans went on strike Wednesday for second days after local authorities failed to find solution for them. Some 1,000 workers have been on strike since yesterday to demand the Cambodian administration chief Sok Kong be ousted from the factory ...

Anguished cries from supporters and family members echoed outside the Appeals Court in Phnom Penh yesterday as they received the news bail had been denied. They had been hoping for the release of 21 people detained since a brutal government crackdown in early January. On ...

Workers at Dongdu Textile in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district ended a two-week strike yesterday after their bosses agreed to reinstate 11 union leaders and activists fired in January. Chhin Sony, president of the government-aligned Union of Cambodia, said more than 2,000 workers returned to the factory ...

The Labor Ministry on Tuesday defended its failure to act on the results of its own study, which in November found that the minimum livable wage for garment factory workers is between $157 and $177. In its annual report, the ministry listed its wage study, carried ...

The Cambodian government must immediately and unconditionally release the 21 garment workers and human rights defenders who have been detained since early January, FIDH and its member organizations Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human ...

Prak Sovannary tries to put on a brave face. She has just heard that two of 23 men arrested during a violent crackdown on garment worker protests in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last month have unexpectedly been released on bail.Her husband, Vorn Pao, a prominent activist and union leader, is not ...

Around 1,000 garment workers from a factory producing jeans in Bith Trang Special Economic Zone in Prey Nop district went on strike to protest against administration chief in their factory.   They also demanded the annual leave of 18-21 days per years, which were rejected by ...

Hang Mao was among more than 11,000 Phnom Penh public school teachers who were told two weeks ago that corruption in the classroom would no longer be tolerated. The message came from senior city officials, including Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong and municipal education director Chea ...

Sixteen unions threatened Monday to organize a nationwide strike if the 21 activists and protesters jailed following garment industry protests on January 2 and 3 are not released on bail Tuesday. The unions also called for charges against the 21 prisoners, 16 of whom began a ...

Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng and ministry spokesman Heng Sour yesterday accused unions and the opposition of derailing the government’s efforts at minimum wage reform by striking and stirring up violence for their own political gain. “The government has set up a committee to study the ...

The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training released its 2013 annual report Monday, trumpeting a list of nine achievements it had reached in line with its five-year plan for the fourth government mandate, which ended last year. Speaking to a crowd of about 100 officials ...

Dozens of protesters called Monday for the release of Cambodian activists arrested during a bloody crackdown last month, as a prison official said several of the detainees were on hunger strike. The brief rally was held outside the Ministry of Justice and the Appeals Court to ...

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday accused certain groups of trying to hold the nation “hostage,” saying his government was functioning normally despite opposition calls for him to resign and hold fresh elections following disputed polls. His administration has also drawn criticism over its heavy ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has issued a directive for the ministries of Public Function and Finance to cooperate with state institutions to ensure that civil servants are paid by the fourth week of every month. The directive, signed by Mr. Hun Sen and dated January 29, ...

In the weeks that 17-year-old garment worker Yon Chea languished in prison, he spent hours staring out of the window at a concrete wall, certain that he would never see his home or his family again. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday morning granted ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday morning granted bail to two of the 23 union activists and protesters jailed following the lethal suppression of garment worker strikes by military police on January 3. Municipal court presiding Judge Leang Samnatt held an unscheduled hearing on Friday ...

The Government already issued a Decision to require the employers to increase the minimum wage for the factory workers to USD 100 per month, starting from February 2014, said a government official. Vong Savann, a senior official of the Labor Ministry added that the Decision was ...