Minimum wage

A disparate group of independent and pro-government trade unions on Tuesday agreed to make $168 their proposal for the garment sector’s new monthly minimum wage in ongoing negotiations with employers, bridging weeks of differences. ...

With the fight over the minimum wage hike for the garment and footwear industry coming to a head, factory owners are already digging in their heels, saying any increase in the $128 a month wage could seriously damage an industry that is facing rising competition ...

The tripartite working group tasked with setting the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment industry is slated to officially convene today, with the results of the negotiations to be announced on October 5 if all goes to plan. ...

Cambodia’s 700,000 garment and footwear workers currently earn a minimum wage of $128 a month. Last year, the lowest legal salary for Cambodian workers in the $5.7 billion industry was only $100 per month. ...

Unions in the clothing and footwear sector yesterday wrote to the committee overseeing minimum wage negotiations threating protests if their demands were not met. ...

A secret ballot yesterday failed to resolve garment union splits over what to demand at upcoming minimum wage talks, with at least one independent union rejecting the majority vote of $158 and vowing to put forward $178.The division came a day after Labour Ministry spokesman ...

The Labor Ministry on Tuesday warned unions that if they failed to reach a consensus on a new minimum wage for the garment sector ahead of Friday’s Labor Advisory Committee meeting on the issue, the committee would not consider any proposal from the unions at ...

With wage negotiations slated for later this month, the head of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia has warned that the country could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if workers win their demand for a minimum wage of $207 per month. ...

More than 500 striking garment workers from a factory in central Cambodia petitioned the parliament and Labor Ministry on Monday, demanding that government officials intervene in stopping their company from firing workers without cause. ...

A new survey of what the country’s 700,000 garment workers earn and spend in a typical month has concluded that the median take-home pay of a garment factory employee is $191, higher than the minimum wage, but lower than what employers have claimed. ...

Envoys of major clothing brands and retailers visited Phnom Penh this week to discuss how to achieve a “living wage” for Cambodia’s garment workers, while the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) contends the “uncompetitive” industry is slowing down as buyers pull out. ...

Most garment workers are expecting a new monthly minimum wage between $160 and $180, according to the results of a recent survey, far lower than the $207 some unions say they plan to seek in fast-approaching negotiations with the factories. ...

Union leaders representing some of the country’s 700,000 garment workers failed Wednesday in their first attempt to agree on how much of a raise they would ask for to the current minimum wage of $128 in coming negotiations. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia says at least 15 factories have suspended workers, due to a lack of job orders, even as union leaders say they will demand a higher minimum wage. ...

A group of independent unions say they will push for a new monthly minimum wage of $207 for garment workers when three-way negotiations with the government and factories begin in earnest next week. ...

Amidst ongoing negotiations to boost the minimum wage for garment workers in Cambodia, H&M, the world’s second-largest fashion retailer, has rolled out a program aimed at improving pay in the Kingdom’s factories, arguing that higher wages improve industrial relations and productivity. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia says unions and their demands for higher wages are rattling the country’s industry and could lead to a decline in buyers, factories and jobs. ...

Eight former “promotion girls” for Budweiser were compensated by the Anco Brothers Company yesterday after being laid off without any severance. ...

Cambodia’s garment factories have indicated they will reject demands for an increase in the minimum wage next year, angering unions and risking upheaval in a crucial economic sector for years dogged by unrest. ...

A majority of members of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which represents the country’s more than 500 exporting garment factories, have voted against any raise to their workers’ minimum wage next year. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia on Monday urged unions to moderate their demands in current negotiations over next year’s minimum wage for the garment industry, given the low productivity of Cambodian workers and their many paid days off compared with competing countries. ...

Sok Ren lives in a tiny room in a rented house in Phnom Penh. She has not been home in two years, having decided to leave a child behind and find work in the city’s garment sector.  Unions say workers need at least $177 ...

Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president Sam Rainsy yesterday told unionists that his party supports a minimum wage increase in the Kingdom’s garment industry to $180 per month in 2016. ...

In the inaugural issue of its bulletin on Cambodia’s $5.8-billion garment industry, the International Labor Organization said Thursday that business remained strong on the back of rising exports despite a 28-percent hike to the sector’s minimum wage in January. ...