News
Factory Workers Demand Release of Eight After Protest
About 1,000 garment workers on Wednesday demonstrated outside Kompong Speu Provincial Court calling for the release of eight people arrested during a protest this week over wages at a factory supplying U.S. brand Nike, a union official said. Fighting between the workers on Monday displayed ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factory-workers-demand-release-of-eight-held-after-protest-29318/
Cambodia: A rising star with a falling reputation?
Cambodia’s reputation as a standard-bearer for apparel workers’ rights is wearing thin – and yet the country is a rising star when it comes to attracting foreign investment and increasing exports. There are many reasons to deter brands and retailers from sourcing clothing in Cambodia. The Kingdom ...
http://www.just-style.com/analysis/a-rising-star-with-a-falling-reputation_id117944.aspx
Cambodian factory deaths shine spotlight on conditions
The deaths of at least two Cambodian workers and injuries sustained by 10 colleagues at a shoe factory southwest of Phnom Penh once more shine a light on conditions in the global garment manufacturing industry. Thursday’s accident at the Wing Star Shoe factory in the Cambodian ...
http://www.dw.de/cambodian-factory-deaths-shine-spotlight-on-conditions/a-16819017
Hun Sen Seeks Garment Factory Vote
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday asked some 4,000 garment factory workers for their votes in July’s national elections at a rally in Phnom Penh attended by members of several CPP-aligned unions, according to those in attendance. Cambodian Union Federation president Choun Mom Thol said ...
Labour orders issued by PM
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday issued extensive orders to unions, factories, workers and authorities to rid the garment industry of violent strikes, roadblocks and rights violations he says are threatening public order. “There have been many strikes and demonstrations at factories recently, and, in some cases, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032964789/National/labour-orders-issued-by-pm.html
Hun Sen, minimum wage discussions not final
The Prime Minister said Tuesday there will be another discussion about the increase of minimum wages for factory workers. Speaking at an inauguration ceremony for the Toul Sophy Secondary School in the district of Ou Rang Ov, he said around 500,000 to 600,000 people are working ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YjQzMzNlNjE0NmE
Largesse and threats ahead of election
Prime Minister Hun Sen warned thousands of villagers yesterday that his most popular initiatives, including his far-reaching land-titling scheme, will simply disappear if he is not re-elected in July’s national election – amid suggestions his campaigning has unofficially begun. In a marked shift from his apparent ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013032664688/National/largesse-and-threats-ahead-of-election.html
Cambodia Ups Minimum Wages for Workers
The Cambodian government on Thursday announced a higher minimum wage of U.S. $80 per month for garment and footwear workers but they were not impressed, vowing to continue a strike until it is raised to U.S. $100. A tripartite meeting between the government, unions and Garment ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/wages-03212013185628.html
Majority of Unions Reduce Wage Demands
Six of the 10 labor unions negotiating with the country’s garment manufacturers over a new minimum wage for factory workers dropped their demands yesterday to $73 per month, breaking previous commitments by unions to stand at $91. Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association ...
Wage talk goes no where
Union leaders asked garment workers to go on strike and demand the $100/month wage because the factory owners were not budging from their $75 stance. Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said “This was the last meeting and we couldn’t ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZWQzNDYwNTM4YmY
Bountiful work, but scant wages angers Cambodia
As night falls in Phonm Penh, thousands of weary workers stream from textile factories, reflecting the abundance of jobs created by the clothing industry’s desire for cheap labor. However, as the number of international clothes companies tapping into Cambodia’s workforce grows, so does anger at the ...
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2013/03/17/2003557254
Hun Sen says Wage Changes Are Not Up To The Government
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that the government has no role in setting the minimum wage, as Cambodia is a market driven economy, and shot down unnamed people who have been calling for the government to significantly raise the country’s floor wage of $61. “For ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-wage-changes-are-not-up-to-government-14455/
Sides dig in over minimum wage
Unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are unlikely to walk out of their final minimum wage meeting today with an agreed-upon increase for workers, industry insiders said yesterday. Both parties have reaffirmed their respective positions: GMAC secretary-general Ken Loo said yesterday that “nothing’s ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031161866/National/sides-dig-in-over-minimum-wage.html
Demand for wage increases rejected
Cambodia, with over 400 garment and footwear factories, has become an Asian clothes manufacturing center, and hugely profitable for the factory owners They have rejected a demand by the Cambodian Confederation of Unions to double the minimum monthly wage of factory workers from $61. The ...
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Demand+wage+increases+rejected/8044435/story.html#ixzz2MYys4mpC
More workers join Svay Rieng strike
Workers from at least six more factories in Bavet town’s Manhattan and Tay Seng Special Economic Zones joined about 5,000 workers who had been on strike since yesterday for a minimum wage increase and better working conditions. Va Sarorn, director of the Svay Rieng ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021461351/National/more-workers-join-svay-rieng-strike.html
Minimum wage may rise for Cambodian garment workers
The Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour has scheduled a meeting on February 26 with representatives of various unions to discuss the new minimum wage for garment workers in the country. However, the Ministry expects the various workers’ unions to agree on what the new wage should ...
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=120969
Swedish outcry has royal voice in midst
Growing calls in Sweden for multinational clothing giant H&M to increase wages for Cambodian garment workers have taken a royal twist. Cambodia’s Prince Charin Norodom, 38, who has lived in Sweden for more than 30 years, told the Post yesterday that he had been working behind ...
Hun Sen Says Pay Rise for Civil Servants Impossible
The country cannot afford to further increase the salaries of civil servants such as teachers and members of the armed forces, as to do so would require tax increases—a move that has already sparked protests across Europe, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. Speaking at a ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-pay-rise-for-civil-servants-impossible/
Bonsues 'won't' end strikes
A pay rise for the nation’s garment workers is imminent, but if recent strikes are anything to go by, the US$10 monthly increase from September 1 won’t be enough to stop them from walking off the job. Central to the demands of strikers at four garment ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012082858320/National-news/bonuses-wont-end-strikes.html
Union Bashes Wage Hike, Ponders National Strike
The Free Trade Union (FTU) is unhappy with the size of the raise agreed to this week by manufacturers for garment workers and said it would meet next week to decide whether to hold a nationwide strike in August for a larger increase, said FTU ...
Strikers claim shots fired
Police threatened workers and fired shots into the air as a dispute involving about 800 Cambodian workers at Phatthana Seafood Co Ltd in Thailand’s Songkhla province escalated yesterday, a workers’ representative said. Sok Sorng said “many police” had threatened workers with guns as more than 1,000 ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012041055531/National-news/strikers-claim-shots-fired.html
Strike at seafood giant
About 800 Cambodian workers in Thailand went on strike yesterday against a major global seafood exporter they accuse of exploiting them. The factory, which has been identified by workers and rights groups as Phatthana Seafood Co Ltd in Thailand’s Songkhla province, allegedly scrapped a 20 baht ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012040955512/National-news/strike-at-seafood-giant.html
Leave Minimum Wage Be, Manufacturers Say
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has said that there should be no discussions on raising the minimum wage until 2014, in response to a request from three garment industry unions for talks on a living wage for workers. The response, sent on Wednesday ...