PHNOM PENH (AFP) - - Cambodian garment makers Tuesday urged the government to better regulate labour unions, saying illegal strikes and power struggles among more than 1,000 workers' groups threaten the key textile trade.
With an average of four unions per factory, managers spend more than half of their time negotiating often conflicting demands while productivity plummets, said Van Sou Ieng of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC).
"In short, there are too many unions," he told a meeting between the private sector and government officials.
"The factory is becoming a place where unions fight for popularity as they seek to win members, and this is to the detriment ... of the workers," he said.
Illegal strikes -- sometimes as many as two a day -- and repercussions against workers who do not walk off the job are also endemic, he said.
"The frequency of these occurrences ... is becoming alarming, and if left unattended and unresolved, they will destroy Cambodia's reputation for attracting and maintaining investors," he said.
The garment sector remains a key pillar of impoverished Cambodia's economy, employing some 350,000 people and accounting for 80 percent of the country's export earnings.
But the industry is increasingly vulnerable to foreign competition, and manufacturers fear labour upheavals could drive future investors away, sinking the sector.
Union officials have accused factory owners of refusing to negotiate disputes, while forced overtime and clashes between Cambodian workers and foreign managers continue to disrupt output.
Union leaders would rather not strike, but are often forced to do so in the absence of collective bargaining agreements, said Nang Sothy, who headed a working group on industrial relations earlier this year.
"Illegal strikes will decrease by 95 percent if the factory owner and union discuss together to make the collective bargaining agreement," he said.
With an average of four unions per factory, managers spend more than half of their time negotiating often conflicting demands while productivity plummets, said Van Sou Ieng of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC).
"In short, there are too many unions," he told a meeting between the private sector and government officials.
"The factory is becoming a place where unions fight for popularity as they seek to win members, and this is to the detriment ... of the workers," he said.
Illegal strikes -- sometimes as many as two a day -- and repercussions against workers who do not walk off the job are also endemic, he said.
"The frequency of these occurrences ... is becoming alarming, and if left unattended and unresolved, they will destroy Cambodia's reputation for attracting and maintaining investors," he said.
The garment sector remains a key pillar of impoverished Cambodia's economy, employing some 350,000 people and accounting for 80 percent of the country's export earnings.
But the industry is increasingly vulnerable to foreign competition, and manufacturers fear labour upheavals could drive future investors away, sinking the sector.
Union officials have accused factory owners of refusing to negotiate disputes, while forced overtime and clashes between Cambodian workers and foreign managers continue to disrupt output.
Union leaders would rather not strike, but are often forced to do so in the absence of collective bargaining agreements, said Nang Sothy, who headed a working group on industrial relations earlier this year.
"Illegal strikes will decrease by 95 percent if the factory owner and union discuss together to make the collective bargaining agreement," he said.
1 comment:
The wages, benefits, and job protections that these workers enjoy were not a gift from management. Generations of union members won them through struggle, sacrifice, and solidarity. Union help protect worker right and create good jobs that pay family-supporting wages benefit not only them-selves and their families, but also Khmer communities. The rights to collective bargaining and to a free and fair choice on unionizing are fundamental human rights, recognized by the international law, however, it is good to have one Union at a factory.
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