ILO - Better Factories Cambodia to keep brands accountable for poverty wages

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Bonuses ‘won’t end strikes’

Strikers take a break during a protest outside the Conpress Holdings (Cambodia) garment factory in Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post

Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

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 factories in Kampong Speu, Phnom Penh and Kandal provinces this week has been an increase in bonuses and allowances.

In all cases, those demands have exceeded next month’s approved wage increase and have led to unionists being sacked.

More than 500 workers at King First Industrial in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district yesterday entered their third day of a strike triggered by the sacking of three unionists.

Cambodia: Is Adidas exploiting workers?

Dene-Hern Chen | GlobalPost.com | Aug 01, 2012

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Am Phalla sits outside the factory gates of apparel maker Shen Zhou (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., sharing a lunch of rice, vegetables and fried fish with coworkers.

She has been sewing clothes at Shen Zhou for a little less than a year, but is unaware that the company, which produces Olympic merchandise for sportswear giant Adidas, is currently under investigation over allegations that it short changes its workers in places like Cambodia.

The London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Locog) is conducting the investigation in response to a July 14 Daily Mail article, claiming Adidas is in violation of an agreement with Locog that merchandisers must pay workers a sustainable living wage. Full of quotes from Cambodian workers, the article contrasts their seemingly meager earnings with the relatively high cost of a single Adidas Olympic garment.

But Phalla, 33, doesn't fit the profile in the Daily Mail article. She says she's happy with the working conditions at Shen Zhou — a rare statement for Cambodia’s garment industry, where long hours and low pay are the norm.

US big brand boycott called for by workers

Tuesday, 24 July 2012 
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Some 100 workers, along with the president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, delivered a letter yesterday to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh asking Americans to boycott clothing made by Tai Yang Enterprises.

Surrounded by protesters, CCU President Rong Chhun said that the group was left with no other choice after authorities failed to find a suitable solution for the employees of the Levi’s and Gap supplier.

“We appeal to all American people to stop buying or using the products or clothes from this factory … [The US government] will not keep quiet, and they will put pressure to this factory,” said Chhun.

Tai Yang workers have been on strike since June 25 over allegations that a change in the company’s name had stripped them of seniority benefits.

Factory workers hold out for more

Garment workers from the Hai Yon factory strike in Phnom Penh yesterday. Workers from four factories protested to demand better working conditions and the reinstatement of sacked union officials. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post

Friday, 20 July 2012
The Phnom Penh Post

Little more than a week after garment workers were granted a US$10 monthly increase in allowances and bonuses, thousands of workers at a number of factories joined strikes with a clear message yesterday: they need more.

Workers rallied outside factory gates and some marched to the Ministry of Social Affairs in a bid for more bonuses and the reinstatement of sacked union representatives.

Sieng Yot, a Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union official at Hai Yon factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, said more than 100 workers from that factory had voiced their demands in the city centre.

“The workers demanded five points, including that [management] allow three union officials and six workers who were sacked in May to go back to work, and that they pay workers $15 for transportation and accommodation,” he said.

Tai Yang boss refutes name change allegations

Garment workers employed by Tai Yang Enterprises sleep on a wooden bed in accommodation near the company’s factory in Kandal province. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post

Tai Yang manager Wu Minghuor

Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Shane Worrell and Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Garment worker Ba Chhorvorn stands in the sweltering heat inside the small concrete brick room she calls home in Kandal province.

Across the road is her workplace, a supplier to Levi’s and Gap, which her boss describes as the “five-star hotel of garment factories”.

Worlds apart but just metres away, Chhorvorn’s accommodation is anything but glamorous.

“My two sisters and I live here,” the 25-year-old Tai Yang factory worker says as co-workers gather around her on the thin linoleum that covers a slab of uneven cement.

Adidas faces demos over worker fees

Jul 14 2012
IC Solihull.co.uk

Some people working in third-world countries for Olympic sponsor Adidas - which produced the official Team GB outfit - are paid less than 68p an hour, the sports giant has admitted.

Countering allegations made at a protest in central London that these workers were paid as little as 34p an hour, the firm insisted the wage rate was "almost double" that figure.

An Adidas spokesman said: "Adidas takes all allegations about working conditions extremely seriously and is fully committed to protecting worker rights."

Anti-poverty campaigners targeted Adidas stores across the country over claims relating to workers in some of its contracted factories.

Protesters attempted to attach labels branded with "34p - Exploitation" to items of clothing, which they say is the hourly wage rate for workers in Indonesia making the brand's goods.

The Scandal Of Chinese And Cambodian Olympic Uniforms

7/14/2012
Tim Worstall, Contributor
Forbes

Two stories, one from each side of the Atlantic, on the scandal of how Olympic uniforms are being made not by domestic workers but by poor people in poor parts of the world.

In the US it turns out that the uniforms for the team itself have been made in China:

We’ve got bigger fish to fry. And we can fry them on Harry Reid’s bonfire.

Words can’t express the indignation felt by the Senate majority leader over the U.S. Olympic team’s uniforms being manufactured in China. He wants the uniforms put on a pile and burned.

Providing a politician with an opportunity to grandstand is performing a valuable public service I would say.

In the UK it appears that sweatshops in Cambodia are being used to make the Olympic branded gear on sale to the general public:

But at the company’s Shen Zhou factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, The Daily Telegraph discovered that poor machinists were working up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, to produce the official Olympics merchandise that thousands of fans will buy in stores throughout Britain.

Living in squalid conditions, workers said they earned a basic salary of $61 (£40) a month for working eight hours a day, six days a week, plus a $5 allowance for health care. They said they could take their wages up to $120 (£78) by increasing their hours to 10 per day.

Adidas insisted on Friday that workers at the factory made an average of $130 a month, and would get a pay rise later this year, along with other garment industry workers.

Anna McMullen of the campaign group Labour Behind the Label, said that was still lower than what they regarded as a living wage for a Cambodian worker with a family. “The minimum wage in Cambodia is horrendously low – $66 a month,” she said. “But the living wage for a worker with two children is $260.”

Khmer sweat for London Olympic?

British athletes, triple jumper Phillips Idowu (L) and heptathlete Jessica Ennis (R) pose with fashion designer Stella McCartney (C) during the unveiling of the new British Olympic Team GB kit designed by Stella McCartney Photo: AFP

Cambodian workers on £10 a week making Olympics 'fanwear’

Adidas, the sportswear company, is facing an investigation over claims that Cambodian workers are being paid £10 a week in basic wages to make official merchandise for the London Olympics.

13 Jul 2012

By Dean Nelson, Phnom Penh

The Telegraph (UK)

"The minimum wage in Cambodia is horrendously low – $66 a month," she said. "But the living wage for a worker with two children is $260."

It is one of the 2012 Games' largest sponsors, believed to have invested £100 million, and manufactured the official Team GB outfit designed by Stella McCartney.

But at the company's Shen Zhou factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, The Daily Telegraph discovered that poor machinists were working up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, to produce the official Olympics merchandise that thousands of fans will buy in stores throughout Britain.

Living in squalid conditions, workers said they earned a basic salary of $61 (£40) a month for working eight hours a day, six days a week, plus a $5 allowance for health care. They said they could take their wages up to $120 (£78) by increasing their hours to 10 per day.

Adidas insisted on Friday that workers at the factory made an average of $130 a month, and would get a pay rise later this year, along with other garment industry workers.

Union boss accused of strike incitement

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
The Phnom Penh Post

The president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions has been summonsed to Kandal Provincial Court to answer incitement and defamation allegations levied against her by the owner of the strike-plagued Tai Yang Enterprise factories.

The court complaint comes ahead of major negotiations today in the seemingly irresolvable dispute between thousands of workers at the Tai Yang factories, which supply Levis and Gap, and factory officials.

“KiKi Wang, the company director-general, filed a complaint against the president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, who led the workers to hold the illegal strike that caused the factory to lose more than US$10,000 per day,” Tai Yang Enterprise administrative manager Ou Meng Hour said yesterday.

Hour said his company had never had problems, but Yang Sophorn, president of CATU, incited the workers to illegally strike for the past 14 days, causing a massive profit loss.

Cambodia's garment manufacturers, union leaders reach agreement on wage hike

PHNOM PENH, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's garment and footwear manufacturers on Wednesday agreed to add 10 U.S. dollars to the monthly wage of the workers in the country's garment and footwear industries.

The agreement between the manufacturers and union leaders was reached under the negotiation of Minister of Labor Vong Sauth.

According to the deal, the manufacturers agreed to provide 7 U. S. dollars a month for house rent or transport fee and another 3 U. S. dollars as attendance bonus for garment and footwear workers.

The wage hike negotiation was made after the unions warned late last month that they would stage a large-scale protest in August to demand salaries hike.

Workers' Rights

10 July 2012
By My Sochua

‎4,000 garment workers on strike since 25 June demanding bonus, travel and accommodation and maternity leave from factory that has changed its name. Buyers are: Levi , Old Navy and Gap. Workers have been blocked from marching to the Labor Ministry. They will take their demands to the prime minister's office tomorrow. They hope Sec. Clinton will address the rights of the workers during ASEAN meeting in Siem Reap 12-13July. I promise the workers to bring their signed petition to Sec. Clinton. Decent wage is a demand garment factory workers have claimed for as their US$61 minimum wage is not enough to make ends meet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etzbGp3ZzE8

តើ​មូលហេតុ​អ្វី​បាន​ជា​ពលរដ្ឋ​ខ្មែរ​ធ្វើ​ចំណាកស្រុក​ក្នុង​ខណៈពេល​ដែល​ទីផ្សារ​ក្នុង​ស្រុក​កំពុង​ខ្វះ​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម? - Why are Cambodian workers leaving the country when manpower is in demand?

រោងចក្រ​កាត់​ដេរ​ស្បែកជើង​គំរូ (ញឹម សុផល)

02 July 2012
ដោយ គី សុខលីម
Radio France Internationale

ទោះបីសត្វ ​ក៏ចេះស្រឡាញ់ សំបុក របស់វាដែរ ចុះពលរដ្នខ្មែរ វិញ ស្រុករបស់ខ្លួន សម្បូរសម្បាយ ការងារធ្វើ មិនអស់ ហេតុអ្វី ក៏ចេះតែនាំ គ្នាទៅថៃ ឬម៉ាឡេ ឲ្យគេធ្វើ បាបអញ្ចឹង???

Synopsis: While there is a great demand for workers in Cambodia, Cambodian workers are still leaving in large number to work overseas. This in spite of the hardships they have to suffer from illegal border crossing etc… Why is it so? For one thing, low wages for factory workers - $61 per month – make it such that the workers can barely survive on their income. The other main issue faced by the Cambodian workforce is the lack of skill and technical knowledge due to poor education. Because of this latter issue, factories have to hire foreign skilled engineers instead. In order to solve these two major sticking points, the government must take immediate action on the workers’ wages and initiate training for skilled workers.

កម្ពុជា​កំពុង​ខ្វះខាត​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម​ក្នុង​ស្រុក​ជា​ច្រើន​​ប៉ុន្តែ​ព្រមពេល​ជាមួយគ្នា​បែរ​ជា​មាន​ពលករ​ខ្មែរ​យ៉ាង​ច្រើន​សន្ធឹកសន្ធាប់​​ធ្វើ​ចំណាកស្រុក​ទៅ​ក្រៅ​ប្រទេស​ដូច​ជា​ទៅ​ប្រទេស​ថៃ​ឬ​​​ប្រទេស​ផ្សេង​ទៀត។ តើ​នេះ​បណ្តាល​មក​ពី​មូលហេតុ​អ្វី?

សមាគម​ថៅកែ​រោងចក្រ​កាត់ដេរ​តែងតែ​និយាយ​ថា ពួកគេ​ខ្វះ​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម​នៅ​ក្នុង​វិស័យនេះ។ វិស័យ​កាត់ដេរ​ត្រូវការ​កម្មករ​ជំនាញ​កាត់ដេរ ជំនាញ​ពិនិត្យ​គុណភាព ជំនាញ​ជួសជុល​ម៉ាស៊ីន ជំនាញ​ច្នៃ​ម៉ូត​និង​ជំនាញ​ដទៃ​មួយ​ចំនួន​ផ្សេងទៀត។ នាពេល​កន្លងមក ដោយសារ​កម្ពុជា​ខ្វះ​កម្មករ​ជំនាញ​ខាង​ធ្វើ​ម៉ូត​សម្លៀក​បំពាក់ រោងចក្រ​មួយ​ចំនួន​បាន​ប្រើប្រាស់​​កម្មករ​ជំនាញ​ជនជាតិ​បរទេស។

លើសពីនេះទៅទៀត កាល​ពីពេល​ថ្មីៗ​កន្លងមក​នេះ លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន បាន​ប្រកាស​ទទួល​ស្គាល់​ថា ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​កំពុង​ស្ថិត​ក្នុង​ដំណាក់​កាល​ខ្វះ​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម​ ទាំង​ក្នុង​​វិស័យ​សំណង់ វិស័យ​កសិកម្ម រហូតដល់​វិស័យ​ឧស្សាហកម្ម។ ប្រមុខរាជ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​បាន​អំពាវនាវ​អោយ​ពលករ​ខ្មែរ​ដែល​សម្រុក​ទៅ​ធ្វើ​ការ​ខុសច្បាប់​នៅ​ប្រទេស​ថៃ​ត្រូវ​វិល​មក​រក​ការងារ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ស្រុក​វិញ។ លោក​បាន​ពន្យល់​ថា ការងារ​ក្រៅ​ស្រុក​មាន​ការ​លំបាក​ណាស់​បើទោះបី​ជា​ទទួល​បាន​ប្រាក់​កម្រៃ​ខ្ពស់​បន្តិច​មែន។ ពួកគេ​ត្រូវ​​ទៅ​ឆ្ងាយ​ពី​ផ្ទះ ឆ្ងាយ​ពី​ប្រពន្ធ​កូន និង​ត្រូវ​ចំណាយ​ច្រើន​ទៀត​ផង។ លើស​ពី​នេះ ពួកគេ​ក៏​ប្រឈម​នឹង​គ្រោះ​ថ្នាក់​ផង​ដែរ។

Workers dig heels in at M&V factory

(Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Thursday, 21 June 2012
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

The stand-off between about 3,000 disgruntled garment workers and the owners of Kampong Chhnang’s M&V garment factory continued yesterday, with workers vowing not to return to work until all their demands were met.

The workers, who produce supplies for Swedish brand H&M, were demanding a US$7 accommodation and transportation allowance, among other things, Free Trade Union general secretary Mann Seng Hak told the Post.

“The factory rejected all the workers’ demands. They agreed to give $2.50 for transportation and accommodation, and $1 for attendance bonus,” Mann Seng Hak said.

Strike at the Sun Well Shoes factory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxvYpWLy2_U

Levi's, Gap garment workers on strike

29 May 2012
AAP

Workers at a large Cambodian garment factory that makes clothes for Levi's, Gap and other well-known international brands are striking for more pay and better working conditions.

More than 5,000 workers from the Singaporean-owned SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd have so far failed to reach an agreement with their employers to end an 11-day strike.

Ath Thon, director of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers, said workers are demanding an increase in their base pay of $US61 ($A62.44) a month for eight-hour days, six days a week.

He said they want a $US5 ($A5.12) salary hike and an extra $US25 ($A25.59) a month for transportation and housing.

Levi's, Gap garment workers in Cambodia strike

May 22, 2012
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Workers at a large Cambodian garment factory that makes clothes for Levi's, Gap and other well-known international brands are striking for more pay and better working conditions.

More than 5,000 workers from the Singaporean-owned SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd. failed to reach an agreement with their employers Tuesday to end an 11-day strike.

The director of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers said workers are demanding an increase in their $61 monthly salaries. He said they want a $5 salary hike and an extra $25 a month for transportation and housing.

SL Garment's website says it makes clothes for labels that include J. Crew, Banana Republic, H&M and Levi's, whose website in turn lists the company as a supplier.

Duchess issued Cambodia sweatshops warning

Kate Middleton urged to put pressure on Zara over workers.

17 May 2012
Bikya Masr Staff

Kate Middleton is being urged to press her favorite retailer Zara to stop exploiting the women making its high street fashion.

War on Want called on the Duchess of Cambridge to speak out as the anti-poverty charity launched a new report which shows how western brands are sourcing from south-east Asian factories that exploit female migrant workers.

Young women migrants from rural areas represent almost 90 per cent of garment workers in Cambodia, from where Zara imports many of its clothes. But 10-hour shifts in the peak season earned just 20p an hour, or £50-55 ($80-90) a month.

ចយអឺយ!ស្ហុកសាម៉ែ ខ្វះម៉ានីសធើការ បានជាអាន់ ឲ្យអុងឡឺងចូលពឹនស្ហុក៖ អុងស្ហែន

កម្ពុជា​ប្រកាស​ថា​ខ្វះ​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម​ក្នុង​ថ្ងៃ​ទិវា​ពលកម្ម​អន្តរជាតិ​

ថ្ងៃ អង្គារ 01 ឧសភា 2012
ដោយ លាង ដឺលុច
Radio France Internationale

ចំពោះ​ មន្ត្រី​ សហជីព ​វិញ ពួកគេ​ បាន​ និយាយ ​ថាកង្វះ​កម្លាំង ពលកម្ម ក្នុង​ វិស័យ​ កាត់ ដេរ ​គឺ ​ដោយសារ​ ប្រាក់ខែ ​តិច

ថៅកែ​​រោងចក្រ​​និង​​ប្រមុខ​​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​​កម្ពុជា​ បាន​​សម្តែង​​ការ​​ព្រួយ​បារម្ភ​​ជា​​ខ្លាំង​​ចំពោះ​​កង្វះ​ខាត​​កម្លាំង​​ពលកម្ម​​នៅ​​ក្នុង​​វិស័យ​​ឧស្សាហកម្ម ​កសិកម្ម​ និង​​សំណង់។ ​នៅ​​ក្នុង​​ទិវា​​ពលកម្ម​​អន្តរជាតិ​​១​​ឧសភា​​នេះ ​លោក​​នាយក​​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​​ហ៊ុន សែន​​បាន​​អំពាវនាវ​​កុំ​​អោយ​​ពលករ​​ខ្មែរ​​ចាក​ចេញ​​ទៅ​​ធ្វើការ​​នៅ​​ក្រៅប្រទេស។​

នៅ​ក្នុង​ចំណោម​សកម្មភាព​នៃ​ការ​អបអរ​ទិវា​ពលកម្ម​អន្តរជាតិ ការ​រៀបចំ​ក្បួន​ដង្ហែដើម្បី​ទាមទារ​ការ​គោរព​ច្បាប់​ការងារ រដ្ឋាភិបាល ​និង​ថៅកែ​រោងចក្រ​បាន​ប្រកាស​ថា កម្ពុជា​កំពុង​តែ​ខ្វះខាត​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម។


ពី​ក្រុង​ព្រះសីហនុ ទី​ដែល​លោក​ជួប​ជាមួយ​កម្មករ​កំពង់ផែ លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​បាន​អំពាវនាវ​ផ្ទាល់​មាត់​សាជាថ្មី​ម្តងទៀត មិន​អោយ​ពលរដ្ឋ​ចេញ​ទៅ​លក់​កម្លាំងពលកម្ម​នៅ​ប្រទេស​ជិត​ខាង​ទៀត​ឡើយ។​ លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​បញ្ជាក់​ថា កម្ពុជាខ្វះខាត​កម្លាំង​ពលកម្ម​មាន​នៅ​ក្នុង​វិស័យ​​ឧស្សាហកម្ម​កាត់ដេរ កសិកម្ម និង​សំណង់។

More than 7,000 march to mark May Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVReRT6ijQk