[Clean Clothes Campaign] Stop Wage Theft Campaign

Stop Wage Theft Campaign

Many people can sympathize with the Robin Hood 'stealing from the rich to give to the poor' ideology, but in Haryana, India, the opposite is happening. Profitable garment manufacturers are stealing from their workers' already very low minimum wages, which are only 178.61 Rupees, or about ?2.50 per day. All workers are confronted with these illegal deductions while women workers are paid less than men for the same work. In addition the money workers pay into social security funds also disappears, leaving them unable to benefit from it. Wage theft, on top of already low wages means that workers cannot survive on what they earn and can go into debt to deal with situations such as illness in their family or to provide education for their children. We need your help to put an end to these illegal practices.

Mazdoor Ekta Manch is a platform of workers in Gurgaon, just outside Delhi, India. Their mission is to build the power of workers and their families, and secure their dignity and rights where they work and live.

They have started a campaign targeting the government of Haryana to put an end to this disgraceful and illegal practice by enforcing the existing laws to protect workers from wage theft. They ask the government to ensure :

Cambodian garment industry remains wary despite export growth

May 10, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodian garment and apparel exports have increased 7.24 percent for the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same period last year, but remain below the pre-crisis levels of the first quarter in 2008, local media reported on Monday, citing the figures from the Ministry of Commerce.

Ministry of Commerce (MoC) figures value Cambodia's garment and apparel exports for the first quarter at 671 million U.S. dollars, up from 626 million U.S. dollars for the same quarter last year, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

According to a country by country breakdown, exports to the U.S. market went up 4.13 percent - from 395 million U.S. dollars to 411 million U.S. dollars - while the EU markets saw a 7.32 percent increase, and other foreign markets were up 20.12 percent.

Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) Secretary General Ken Loo was restrained in his response to the new figures, emphasising that the increase was from "the very low level of 2009 ", the Post said.

But MoC Secretary of State Ok Boung was more optimistic, saying he believed the sector would continue to recover thanks primarily to an improved economic outlook in the U.S., the biggest market for Cambodia's garment industry.

Total garment export dramatically fell more than 20 percent to 626 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of last year, from 784 million U.S. dollars for the same period in 2008, according to MoC data.

Overall, the year 2009 saw Cambodia's garment and apparel exports sliced by 15.46 percent compared with 2008.

ADB: Cambodia falling behind competitors

(Photo: AP)

26/04/2010
Ellie Dyer
Bangkok Post

Cambodia is falling behind its competitors in the key garment and tourism sectors, an economist from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned this week.

ADB analysts gathered at group headquarters in Phnom Penh to discuss their Asian Development Outlook Report 2010, which was released during Khmer New Year and predicted 4.5% GDP growth for the kingdom this year.

During the press conference, senior country economist Eric Sidgwick said Cambodia must increase competitiveness in the region as it begins to recover from the global economic crisis in order to move to the "next [economic] level".

ADB estimated the country's GDP shrank by 2% last year.

"Cambodia has had a good start relative to its past performance, but it is still lagging behind its competitors in terms of garments and tourism," he said, noting that the volume of Cambodia's garment exports to the US increased by 12% in February, compared with the same month last year.

"There are still issues in trade facilitation," he warned, and declared that both sectors have shown signs of reaching maturity.

Mr Sidgwick advised that the garment industry needs to become quick, reliable and efficient in order to compete with producers such as Vietnam, and that tourism needs to diversify away from the hub of the Angkor temples.

Garment Sector in Danger: Manufacturers [... Why worry when Comrade Keat Chhon claimed that Cambodia's economy will increase by 7%?]

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original repoort from Phnom Penh
12 June 2009

At least 100,000 factory workers have felt the pinch of the global economic crisis, with 60,000 losing their jobs, the Garment Manufacturers Association said Friday.

Orders are down, and Cambodia lacks competitiveness with its neighbors Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Vietnam, Van Sou Ieng, head of the association, told reporters.

Manufacturers are facing pressure from unions to increase wages, as the crisis has cut the overtime hours many workers have come to rely on.

The garment sector is one of the chief engines of the Cambodian economy, but its main target is the US and European markets, which have been hard hit by the economic downturn.