News
Retail associations urge talks
Six major retail, footwear and garment industry associations whose members account for over 90 per cent of garment imports in the US and Canada have called on the Cambodian government, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and unions to resume wage negotiations. The open ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/retail-associations-urge-talks
Strike action still on table, unions say
Leaders of unions that declared a nationwide garment worker strike said the work stoppage and protests, which they temporarily suspended, will resume unless government officials renegotiate the industry’s minimum wage. The announcement was their first since authorities cracked down on strike demonstrations on January 2 and ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/strike-action-still-table-unions-say
Unions Want Government, Factories to Resume Wage Talks
The unions behind several days of strikes that turned deadly this month said they will officially ask the Labor Ministry today to resume negotiations on a new minimum wage for the country’s critical garment sector, and said they would hold more street protests if their ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-want-government-factories-to-resume-wage-talks-50451/
Major Brands Concerned About Cambodia Violence
Major labels that have clothing manufactured in Cambodian factories have written an open letter expressing concern for the recent shootings of workers demonstrating for higher wages. Adidas, Gap, H&M, Levi’s and Puma were among those that signed the January 7 letter to the Phnom Penh government, ...
VOA News Staff
http://www.voanews.com/content/major-brands-express-concern-for-violence-against-striking-cambodians/1826132.html
Unions Tell Garment Workers to Suspend Strike
Unions behind last week’s garment factory strikes said their members had largely gone back to work this week, although they have not ruled out resuming protests for a higher minimum wage later this month. Tens of thousands of workers went on strike starting on December 24 ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-tell-garment-workers-to-suspend-strike-50299/
GMAC Defends Use of Force Against Striking Workers
A senior member of the Garment Manufacturer’s Association in Cambodia (GMAC) on Sunday endorsed the use of deadly force by military police against striking garment workers, which left five dead and more than 20 with gunshot wounds. “GMAC condemns the use of violence, period,” he ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/gmac-defends-use-of-force-against-striking-workers-50136/
Five Killed During Protest Confirmed as Garment Workers
The five people killed by AK-47 gunfire from military police at a protest along Pur Senchey district’s Veng Sreng Street on Friday were all striking garment factory workers, a union official confirmed Sunday. Military police officers opened fire on the factory-lined street on Friday morning during ...
Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/five-killed-during-protest-confirmed-as-garment-workers-50141/
Striking Workers Refuse Government Offer in Wage Dispute
Union leaders and striking workers on Wednesday said they would not agree to a minimum wage of $100 per month and would continue demonstrations until a higher wage is set. Government officials say they are willing to raise the minimum wage from $80 to $100 ...
Kong Sothanarith
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/striking-workers-refuse-government-offer-in-wage-dispute/1821569.html
Workers quietly trickle back
As garment union groups resume their strike today, thousands of workers plan on returning to work, largely citing financial necessity rather than ideological disagreement with the unions. The Ministry of Labour on Monday ordered union leaders to cease a nationwide strike that began nine days ago, ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-quietly-trickle-back
Negotiations Fail as Worker, Opposition Protests Continue
Tens of thousands of workers protested in front of the Ministry of Labor on Monday, after negotiations between labor leaders and the government failed to find a resolution to demands of higher wages in the face of a rising cost of living. Labor Minister Ith ...
Kong Sothanarith
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/negotiations-fail-as-worker-opposition-protests-continue/1820038.html
Factories Closed Until Safety Guaranteed
The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) on Sunday said all of the country’s 400-plus garment factories will remain closed until the government and striking trade unions can guarantee the safety of the factories and all employees who want to work. The decision, outlined in an ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-closed-until-safety-guaranteed-49749/
Cambodia's GMAC tells all factories to stop production amid strike
The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) on Thursday asked all its members to temporarily stop production operations this week due to concerns over security and safety after thousands of workers walked out of work in protest against the 19 percent wage hike in the ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-12/26/c_132997783.htm
Turmoil marks year in labour
When unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) signed a memorandum of understanding in October last year, both sides were confident strikes in the Kingdom’s biggest export sector could be kept to a minimum. Not counting December, GMAC has recorded 131 strikes this ...
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/turmoil-marks-year-labour
Keep striking for $160, Rainsy urges
Ahead of today’s Ministry of Labour announcement of a minimum wage increase for Cambodia’s apparel sector, opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday urged striking workers in Svay Rieng province to hold out until their monthly salary is raised to $160. “[Garment] workers should not return to work ...
Mom Kunthear, Sean Teehan and James Hall
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/keep-striking-160-rainsy-urges
Cambodian garment manufacturers, trade unionists talk over pay rise with no agreement
Cambodia’s garment manufacturers and trade unionists on Monday began a negotiation on pay rise for garment workers in 2014 but reached no any agreement because the union representatives demanded to double the current wage. The talk was made between the employers represented by Nang Sothy, co-chair ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-12/16/c_132972280.htm
SL reps, unionists to sign deal to end strike
A nearly four-month strike, punctuated by a violent clash between unionists and police that left one bystander dead, could come to an end this afternoon. Officials from SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) – which represents a ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sl-reps-unionists-sign-deal-end-strike
Factory inspection turns up unauthorised floor
Inspectors from the ministry in charge of construction who were called to investigate a “shaking” garment factory last Tuesday discovered that an entire extra storey had been built without permission or oversight from authorities, officials said yesterday. As workers returned to the Siu Quinh Garment factory ...
Mom Kunthear and Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-inspection-turns-unauthorised-floor
SL to reinstate fired unionists
The chief executive of SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) yesterday said the factory has agreed to reinstate 19 dismissed union leaders and activists, a sticking point which could end a strike that has lasted more than three months. Hours after the Ministry of Labour announced the garment ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sl-reinstate-fired-unionists
No consensus on next move in SL drama
After the management of an embattled garment factory this week refused to follow a government order to reinstate 19 dismissed union leaders and activists, unionists and observers are at a divergence of opinion over how the state should respond. “It’s fairly unprecedented,” Dave Welsh, country director ...
Sean Teehan and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-consensus-next-move-sl-drama
Court Refuses to Investigate Complaint Over Police Shooting
A student who filed a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court against the city’s municipal and military police chiefs over the fatal police shooting at the SL Garment Factory protest on November 12 said Tuesday that the court has refused to investigate his complaint. Neang ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-refuses-to-investigate-complaint-over-police-shooting-47944/
Factory rejects order to rehire 19 workers
Flouting a government order, representatives of SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd yesterday refused to rehire 19 union representatives and activists during a meeting with the Ministry of Labour. Rehiring the 19 has been the key sticking point in ending the three-month-old strike, which erupted into violence ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-rejects-order-rehire-19-workers
SL Workers Demand Representatives Reinstated
About 200 workers protested outside SL Garment Factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district Wednesday demanding that managers reinstate 19 union representatives before a 15-day deadline set by the government elapses. The Council of Ministers has ordered the factory to rehire the fired unionists or face punitive ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sl-workers-demand-representatives-reinstated-47539/
Hun Sen Set to Weigh In on SL Garment Factory Dispute
Officials at the Ministry of Labor who mediated talks Wednesday between the management of SL Garment Factory and union leaders who have led a three-month-long strike at the factory said that they would send the results of the meeting to Prime Minister Hun Sen to ...
Khuon Narim and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-set-to-weigh-in-on%E2%80%88sl%E2%80%88garment%E2%80%88factory-dispute-46952/
Police in strike shootings to be investigated
Police officers who defied orders not to open fire on rioting garment workers on Tuesday – an act that resulted in the fatal shooting of 49-year-old rice vendor Eng Sokhom – could lose their jobs, a National Police spokesman said yesterday. Kirt Chantarith told the Post that a ...
Shane Worrell and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/police-strike-shootings-be-investigated