News

Labour rights issues ‘industry-wide’: H&M

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.   ...

Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/labour-rights-issues-industry-wide-hm

H&M eyes ‘fair wage’ push

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. ...

Mom Kunthear and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hm-eyes-fair-wage-push

US retailers express support for Cambodian living wage

As a new round of Cambodian wage negotiations approaches this month, major U.S. and European retailers who source from the country say they will be watching the talks carefully and want to see fair pay for workers. Representatives of the brands like Gap, Levi Strauss, and ...

Kimseng Men
http://www.voanews.com/content/us-retailers-express-support-for-cambodian-living-wage/2470747.html

Inditex, H&M agree to pay more for clothes from Cambodia

Fashion brands, including Europe’s biggest clothing retailer Inditex SA (ITX) and Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB), said they are willing to pay more for clothes made in Cambodia, backing a trade union campaign for higher wages. The chains are among eight clothing retailers that include Next Plc (NXT) and Primark that have ...

Gabi Thesing
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-19/inditex-h-m-agree-to-pay-more-for-clothes-from-cambodia.html

Help Cambodia's garment workers, unions urge Business Secretary

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, must force British clothing companies to investigate whether garments sourced from Cambodia are made at factories with fair labour practices, the unions have warned. Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, has written to Mr Cable warning that ...

Mark Leftly
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/help-cambodias-garment-workers-unions-urge-business-secretary-9644675.html

Brands dodge blame over substandard factory

Behind the walls of the nondescript Hung Tak garment factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, more than 400 workers have been toiling in substandard conditions to cut and stitch clothing for some of the world’s biggest brands. But since the factory was named by the ...

Holly Robertson and Sun Heng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/brands-dodge-blame-over-substandard-factory-64606/

H&M, ILO Form New Industrial Relations Initiative

In an effort to bring stability back to the country’s embattled but crucial garment industry, the Ministry of Labor has joined forces with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Swedish clothing giant H&M in a campaign for unions and factories to sign direct agreements to ...

Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hm-ilo-form-new-industrial-relations-initiative-61424/

Brands, international unions press Cambodian government on labor issues

Representatives from some of the world’s largest fashion brands and the leader of one of the world’s biggest union organizations met this week with Cambodian officials and local clothing manufacturers to demand better treatment and improve workplace safety for the country’s estimated 600,000 garment workers. Garment ...

Robert Carmichael
http://www.voanews.com/content/brands-international-unions-press-government-on-labor-issues/1923596.html

International union urges factories to raise wages

A major international union wants Cambodian garment workers and factory managers to return to negotiations, following meetings between international companies and officials. The IndustriALL Global Union said Tuesday that management should seriously consider a minimum wage of $160 per month, after international buyers such as Levis ...

Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/international-union-urges-factories-to-raise-wages/1923487.html

Cambodian officials meet with buyers from global brands on garment issues

Cambodian officials, led by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, on Monday met with a 18-member delegation representing global brands and trade unions to discuss garment worker rights and wages. It was the second round of talks between Cambodian government officials and representatives of major brands ...

Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-05/26/c_133363019.htm

Costs don’t top brands’ concerns

In their latest bid for a $160 minimum monthly wage for the garment industry, independent unions will lead a “stay at home” strike late next week. While the chances of that figure being approved anytime soon seem slight – the government has only just announced a ...

Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/costs-don%E2%80%99t-top-brands%E2%80%99-concerns

Mass faintings in Cambodia sicken over 200 garment workers

More than 200 Cambodian garment workers have been hospitalized after episodes of mass fainting at three factories this week, highlighting problems within an industry that is critical to the kingdom’s fledgling economy. The plants all make clothes for brands such as sportswear giants Puma SE and Adidas. Both ...

Aljazeera America News Staff
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/3/over-200-cambodiangarmentworkersfaintonthejob.html

Brands ‘failing their workers’

European mega-brands are not doing enough to ensure that the Cambodian workers who make their products receive a basic living wage, according to a report released today. Tailored Wages, an analysis of 50 of Europe’s biggest clothing brands, found that many major high-street chains are doing ...

Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/brands-%E2%80%98failing-their-workers%E2%80%99

Labor minister responds to brands’ concerns

Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng said Tuesday that he has sent a letter responding to 30 international clothing brands who recently wrote to the government expressing their concerns over a draft union law which could allow for the arbitrary breakup of unions. Speaking outside a conference ...

Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-minister-responds-to-brands-concerns-54931/

Gov’t criticizes media coverage of strike violence

The high-ranking government officials and global clothing brand representatives who took part in a meeting in Phnom Penh on Wednesday both raised concern​s​ about the media coverage of last month’s lethal repression of a nationwide strike by garment workers and its aftermath. The meeting was called ...

Alex Willemyns And Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-criticizes-media-coverage-of-strike-violence-52979/

Cambodian garment workers, bloodied in crackdown, continue wage struggle

Just over a month after a brutal police crackdown on striking Cambodian garment workers left at least five people dead, the country’s unions are calling for another strike in March, increasing the likelihood of further violence. At issue is the still-unresolved question of the workers’ minimum monthly wage. Roughly 700,000 ...

Christina Larson
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-20/cambodian-garment-workers-bloodied-in-crackdown-continue-wage-struggle

CAMBODIA: Unions plan day of action for arrested workers

International labour organisations Industrial Global Union, UNI Global Union and ITUC are seeking international support for a day of action in support of garment workers arrested during recent strikes in Cambodia. The groups are calling on people to demonstrate outside Cambodian embassies and deliver protest letters ...

Richard Woodard
http://www.just-style.com/news/unions-plan-day-of-action-for-arrested-workers_id120577.aspx

The Plight of Cambodia's Garment Workers, On Display on a Manhattan Sidewalk

Last week, on a busy sidewalk in Times Square, a hunched figure in a surgical mask labored at a hand-operated sewing machine. This anonymous worker was Khmer-American artist Kat Eng. According to her website, she sat in front of the flagship location of clothing giant H&M ...

Sarah Goodyear
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2014/01/plight-cambodias-garment-workers-laid-bare-manhattans-sidewalks/8187/

Cambodian police in new protest crackdown

Cambodian police broke up a rally in the capital on Tuesday and briefly detained 11 activists who were calling for international assistance to secure the release of protesters arrested in a recent crackdown. The detentions came as the country’s main opposition party called off a planned ...

Channel News Asia News Staff
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/cambodian-police-in-new/962534.html

Cambodia opposition leaders questioned in court

Cambodia’s opposition leaders were questioned in court Tuesday in connection with recent protests against strongman premier Hun Sen — a case they denounced as politically motivated. Prosecutors at Phnom Penh Municipal Court spent several hours grilling Sam Rainsy and his deputy Kem Sokha about unrest that ...

Channel News Asia Staff
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/cambodia-opposition/954294.html

H&M may raise prices to pay workers

Clothing giant H&M is considering raising retail prices and passing the buck onto the consumer to help pay higher wages to garment workers in poor countries. There won’t be any price increases in the short-term, but it “might be a possibility” in the future, Helena Helmersson, ...

Daniel de Carteret and May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/hm-may-raise-prices-pay-workers

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