Minimum Wage-LIVING WAGE- PART 4: 20131223- 20140306

* A living wage = a human right:

Working alongside garment workers, trade unions, consumers and campaigners we are calling for those working in the garment industry to be paid a wage they can live on.

A major industry
The garment industry is a major employer across the world – in Asia for example over 15 million people are employed by the industry. With global brands making millions in profits every year this booming industry has come to rely on, and exploit, the cheap labour of millions of garment workers whose wages fall far short of a living wage.

The right to a living wage: A living wage should be earned in a standard working week (no more than 48 hours) and allow a garment worker to be able to buy food for herself and her family, pay the rent, pay for healthcare, clothing, transportation and education and have a small amount of savings for when something unexpected happens.

The lack of a living wage means many garment workers are forced to work long hours to earn overtime or bonuses and cannot risk taking refusing work due to unsafe working conditions or taking time off due to ill health. The low wages mean that workers often have to rely on loans just to make ends meet and have no savings to use if they find themselves out of work.

Clean Clothes Campaign believes that in order for a living wage to become a reality brands and retailers must take concrete steps to ensure they are paying a living wage in the countries they source from, and national governments must ensure that minimum wages are set at a level that allow people to live with dignity.

read more.

* The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA):

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) is an international alliance of trade unions and labour rights activist who are working together to demand garment workers are paid a living wage.

As an alliance led by unions in the key garment producing countries in the region, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance represents the concerns and needs of the workers themselves. Central to their demands is a call for a living wage to be paid to all garment workers, this led to the development of the Asia
Floor Wage calculation, as a way to calculate a living wage for payment across Asia.
read more. & read more.

* The Clean Clothes Campaign calling for living wage:

Pay a Living Wage Action Week

From October 21st – 28th 2013, Clean Clothes Campaign partners across Europe will be launching the next phase in our campaign to demand garment workers are paid a living wage.

* Clothing brands and companies to take action by setting concrete and measurable steps throughout their supply chain to ensure garment workers get paid a living wage.

* National governments in garment producing countries to make sure minimum wages are set at living wage standards.

* European governments to implement regulation that make sure companies are responsible for the impact they have on the lives of workers in their suppply chain, including their right to earn a living wage.

Join our call for all garment workers to be paid a living wage –
sign the petition today here. & read more.

20140306

21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Unions expect violence, but forum to go on:

Despite anticipating violence between unionists and authorities, labour union heads yesterday said they will go ahead with a public forum at Freedom Park on Saturday morning.

“I think we cannot avoid having a clash on Saturday, because [authorities] will not allow us to have our forum,” Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said. “But what we are going to do is not wrong.”
Phnom Penh City Hall on Tuesday denied a request by 18 union federations to hold a public forum at Freedom Park on Saturday, an event that would coincide with International Women’s Day.

The union groups are continuing to demand the minimum garment wage be increased to $160 per month and 21 jailed activists and workers be freed from prison.

City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche on Tuesday declared Freedom Park off-limits, saying that the 30,000 people union federations expect could pose a threat to security.
“We’re concerned that police or military will block the road and make violence for our members,” Sun Lyhov, of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said.
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* Support the Cambodian Garment Workers Struggle! Donate to their Strike Fund! :

Dear Asia Floor Wage Alliance Members, Endorsers, Supporters & Discussants:

Please support two very important struggles going on in Asia right now – in Cambodia and in Bangladesh

As you know Cambodian unions have been in an intense, long struggle since end of 2013 till now…. voicing their demand for a bare minimum wage of USD 160 per month. Workers have lost their lives in police firing; union leaders have been arrested; and many continue to be in prison.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, 15,000 Cambodian workers will peacefully assemble in Freedom Park in Phnom Penh and ask the government and opposition to discuss the issue of wage. If there is no result from the discussions, they will start a nationwide strike again on March 12. Unions are seeking donations for transport, food and water – for a strike fund. Please help and contact joel.p@clec.org.kh or AFW Southeast Asia Coordinator at asiafloorwage.sea@gmail.com
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22:09:59 local time MALAYSIA

* MTUC Wants Labour Department To Conduct Regular Checks At Work Places:

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has called on the Labour Department to carry out regular inspection at work premises to ensure employers comply with the minimum wage policy.

Its deputy secretary-general, A. Balasubramaniam, said the union had received numerous complaints on companies not paying the minimum wage of RM900 to workers.

He said companies found to have under paid their employees should comply with the minimum wage requirement and to pay the arrears in backdated wages in accordance with the law.

“MTUC calls on the Labour Department to strictly monitor the enforcement of the minimum wage ruling to ensure the low paid workers are not deprived of their legitimate wages, especially at a time when the cost of living has gone up.
read more.

20140305

21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Park off limits; unions defiant:

Union groups said they will go through with a planned forum on labour rights in Cambodia’s garment sector at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Saturday, despite the municipal government’s forbidding of the gathering yesterday.

In a meeting at City Hall yesterday morning, government officials told representatives of 18 union groups that the number of people estimated to attend – between 10,000 and 30,000 – exceeded the limit of 200 people allowed to gather at Freedom Park, said Sok Chhun Oeung, acting president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA).

“The municipality’s decision to forbid the forum shows that low- and mid-level authorities do not follow the government’s leaders,” Chhun Oeung said. “This is what makes people lose trust in the ruling government.”
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* City Hall Denies Unions Permission for Freedom Park Forum:

A group of 18 labor unions and associations said they will proceed with plans for a public forum in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Saturday, despite City Hall’s rejecting their request, citing public security concerns.

The unions, who are organizing a nationwide strike in the garment industry on March 12 for a higher minimum wage and other demands, sent a letter to City Hall on February 26 informing them of the public forum, to which government and opposition party leaders had been invited to address an anticipated crowd of 30,000 garment workers.

Denial of the unions’ right to gather at Freedom Park comes exactly a week after Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed that he had reinstated the constitutional right to freedom of assembly, which he suspended in early January.

“Federations and unions who asked to hold the above event are being asked to hold it at their own offices in order to maintain a good security situation in Phnom Penh,” the municipality said in a statement after meeting with union leaders Tuesday morning.
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* CNRP Looks for Quieter Plan of Action as Labor Strike Looms:

When a group of six unions organized nationwide strikes in December demanding a $160 minimum wage, the opposition CNRP aggressively took up the cause.

Opposition leaders rallied support outside factory gates around the country and tens of thousands of garment workers flooded into Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park, where CNRP president Sam Rainsy told them not to accept a dollar less than $160 a month.
More than two months after the government violently suppressed demonstrations by garment workers and supporters of the CNRP, labor unions are planning a second round of strikes, set to begin next week, in which workers will be asked to stay at home.

But this time, the CNRP is taking a much more passive approach to its support for workers.
Mr. Rainsy said that CNRP leaders have not discussed what role the party will play in the upcoming strikes, set to begin on March 12, which are being organized by 16 labor unions and associations.
read more.

* Factory ignored direct order: cops:

When commune police in Kampong Speu ordered Complete Honour Footwear factory administrators to open their gates and allow workers to leave last week, management there simply refused, police told the Post yesterday.

“The company did not listen to my order to open the door,” said Kheng Chan Thol, police chief of Kong Pisei district’s Chong Roc commune. “They worried about property destruction some union workers and workers may cause.”

In interviews with the Post on Monday, four employees reported that the factory locked its gates, preventing workers last week from participating in a week-long boycott of overtime work in protest at the government’s refusal to raise the sector’s minimum monthly wage to $160 and its continued detainment of 21 protesters.
read more.

* End Right to Unionize, Businesses Ask Hun Sen:

Prime Minister Hun Sen told business leaders and government officials Tuesday that he will not tolerate “illegal” labor strikes that harm investment, but avoided judgment on a request to withdraw ratification of a U.N. convention protecting workers’ rights to unionize.

Speaking at the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum, Mr. Hun Sen also referred to the opposition CNRP as an “extremist group” that had stirred unrest by enticing garment workers to take part in illegal activities during a nationwide strike two months ago.

“The opposition party and its unions have used a subversive policy that takes the workers to be a political [tool], and have instigated the staging of illegal strikes, especially to demand an extreme minimum wage, with the intention of destroying the investment climate, workers benefits, and job opportunities for the youth,” Mr. Hun Sen said.
“The government would like to reaffirm that the implementation of the freedom to make demands [unionize] must be done legally,” he said.
“If it is done against the law, there will be no tolerance.”
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* Cambodian PM says no more tolerance for illegal protests:

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated Tuesday that the government would no longer tolerate illegal strikes or demonstrations led by the opposition and its aligned trade unions.

Speaking during the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum, the premier said the opposition party and its trade unions have used demagogue to incite garment workers to hold illegal strikes and demonstrations to demand higher wages unreasonably.

“They are using workers as their political pedal with their aim to pollute investment climate and destroy workers’ benefits and job opportunities for youth,” he said at the forum, which was attended by some 400 government officials, business representatives, diplomatic corps and development partners.
read more.

* Hun Sen says wage hikes should be linked to increased productivity:

Prime Minister Hun Sen has told local business leaders that increased wages should be linked to improvements in the productivity of workers.

Speaking at the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum on Tuesday, he said higher wages “must be attached to the production capacity of each worker and employee.”

NEED FOR INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS

“When factories/enterprises production capacity rises, so does their competitiveness. When their products are more competitive, their revenue will increase.

“As a result, factories/enterprises will be able to increase wage for their workers. Hence, productivity improvement not only enhances Cambodia’s competitiveness in the ASEAN Economic Community 2015, but also benefits workers and employees,” the prime minister said.

EXTREMISTS DESTROYING INVESTMENT CLIMATE

Hun Sen said the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and its unions had been misleading workers to stage illegal strikes and protests to demand excessive minimum wages.

Such activities were “destroying the investment climate, the interests of workers and employees and job opportunities for our youth,” he said. “Those extremists still maintain their evil intention with motivation and support from some outsiders.”

The prime minister added that “the use of rights to demand anything must comply with laws and regulations and further violation will not be tolerated.”

NEED TO WORK HARDER

Hun Sen stressed the need to “work harder in a more cohesive and complementary manner to ensure the competitive advantage of the economy, improved productivity, low costs of doing business and investment attraction.
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20:09:59 local time BANGLADESH

* Minimum Wage in the RMG Sector of Bangladesh: Definition, Determination Method and Levels:

Minimum wage in the RMG sector of Bangladesh is a debated issue, mainly due to lack of operational definition and method for calculation. This study is undertaken to come up with a definition and method for calculation of the minimum wage based on the ILO Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131).

The underlying principle of this definition is that minimum wage should be sufficient enough to meet the basic needs of workers and their families, and should provide some discretionary income.
Based on the definition, the minimum wage has been estimated under three scenarios – poverty line, actual expenditure and aspirational diet. Considering the industry’s capacity, the study proposed a phase-wise implementation of the minimum wage under which about 80 per cent of the proposed wage (Tk. 8,200) equivalent to Tk. 6,500 could be provided in the first phase.
read more.

* Jute mill workers block road in Khulna:

Workers of nine state-owned jute mills of Khulna–Jessore industrial belt put up barricade on Tuesday at the Daulatpur new road intersection in Khulna city, demanding payment of their fourth installment of wages.

Road transport services remained disrupted from 9:00am to 11:00am on Khulna–Jessore highway.
The workers who are on movement to press home their 11-point demands will go on 24-hour work stoppage today in all these jute mills under banner of CBA and non-CBA Action Coordination Committee.
to read.

20140304

21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Workers ‘locked inside’ during overtime strike:

Workers at two different garment factories say that managers locked them inside their workplaces last week when they tried to participate in a boycott of overtime.

Union representatives and rank-and-file employees at Kampong Speu province’s Complete Honour Footwear Industrial Cambodia Co, Ltd and Dai Yi Fashion in the capital’s Russey Keo district yesterday told the Post that management locked the doors as local police intimidated workers after they completed their regular eight-hour shifts, forcing them to work overtime.

“The factory forced the workers to work overtime and locked the gate” on Monday and Tuesday of last week, said Ngem Sophan, president of Worker Friendship Union Federation (WFUF) in the Dai Yi factory.

Lock-ins at about 4pm – the end of the factory’s normal eight-hour shift – early last week coincided with the beginning of a week-long boycott of overtime work supported by a coalition of 18 unions and union federations.
The boycott was held to demand an industry minimum wage increase to $160 per month, the release of 21 detainees arrested at demonstrations supporting a nationwide garment strike in January and five other points.
read more.

* In Vietnam, ‘they don’t shoot their workers’; in Cambodia, they do:

Prime Minister Hun Sen has said Cambodia’s garment workers are paid a fair wage, comparing the new monthly wage of $100 to Vietnam’s. He suggests the unions are too demanding and that investors will flee. However, a researcher points out Vietnam is in flux too.

“In Vietnam there have been all kinds of strikes over the past 10 years. Tens of thousands of workers have gone on strikes. It’s a very active worker community,” said labor researcher Dennis Arnold. Arnold has written several reports on the garment industry in Southeast Asia and recently advised a fact-finding mission looking into the deaths of four Cambodian garment workers, with an additional one missing and assumed dead and over 30 injured. The report, titled A Day that Shook Cambodia, found that Cambodia’s military provoked protestors and that some of the military did double duty by working for Yakjin Factory where the crackdown took place, in addition to their regular job.

The government has alleged that the strikers were “extremists” but Arnold points out that strikes are common in Vietnam as well but are relatively unreported in the media compared to Cambodia.

“Unions [in Vietnam] mediate between the government and workers, they aren’t true representatives of workers’ interests,“ explained Arnold. “Yet you see a lot of ‘wildcat’ [worker-led, technically illegal] strikes there.”

However, he said “they don’t shoot their workers.” If that were to happen, Vietnam’s socialist image would take a hit. “But [Vietnam’s workers] are not yet seen as a political threat.”
read more.

22:09:59 local time MALAYSIA

* Ministry Seeks Public Suggestions On Minimum Wages:

The human resources ministry wants feedback from the public, employers and employees to boost the implementation of minimum wages.

Its minister, Datuk Richard Riot Jaem said this was to improve the implementation of the scheme as the government was serious in creating a win-win situation.

“As the scheme is reviewed biennially, I urge employers and workers to give their feedback and views to the Secretariat of the National Wages Consultative Council, latest by April 30,” he said.

He said this at a media conference, in conjunction with the launch of the Sabah-level Minimum Wage Clinic in Kota Kinabalu, Monday.

Riot said it was still early to take any action because the implementation of minimum wage of RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak, and RM900 in the peninsula took effect only in January.
read more.

22:09:59 local time INDONESIA

* Indonesia Seeks Investment Gain as Thai Turmoil Bolsters Rivals:

Indonesia plans to woo companies from Japan to Europe as political turmoil in Thailand and rising wages in Malaysia boost the attractiveness of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

The Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board plans to visit Japan, South Korea, China, the US and Europe to promote industrial zones in central and east Java, Chairman Mahendra Siregar said Feb. 28.
Japanese companies, the biggest direct investors in Indonesia, are turning to the country as protests in Thailand raise risks in that nation, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.

The perception that Indonesia is now politically less risky and cheaper than some neighbors is adding to the allure of the world’s fourth-most-populous nation, even as investment growth is set to cool before elections this year.
(..)

Wage Differential Malaysia set its first minimum wage levels in 2013 at 900 ringgit ($274) a month for workers in the more industrialized peninsular states. In Jakarta, the floor for wages is 2.44 million rupiah ($211) a month this year, up from Rp 2.2 million in 2013, according to the local governor’s website.
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19:39:59 local time INDIA

* Trade unions plan mass protest:

Over 45 trade unions from the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt will gather here for a mass protest on Wednesday, making this the first such showdown between the district authorities and industrial workers this year.

The protest comes in the wake of long-pending worker demands, including wage hike.
Organizers said several thousands are likely to attend the agitation, which will be held near the Mini Secretariat. “We have a three-point agenda for the protest. We need a minimum wage hike.
The stranglehold of contractors on Gurgaon’s industries needs to go. And we want all industrial disputes of the region resolved,” said Satbir Singh, district president of the Centre of Indian Unions, which recently decided to join the agitation.
read more.

20140303

21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Unions plan forum:

The leaders of 18 unions and union confederations this week will invite ruling and opposition party members to take part in a public forum where labour relations issues will be discussed.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), yesterday said the letters have already been drafted and signed, with the forum to take place before a stay-at-home strike planned for later this month.

“We will send the letter to those officials tomorrow or Tuesday to invite them to join our public forum,” Chhun said.

Among those called to join are Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng, Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon and leaders of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, Chhun added.

The forum, which is scheduled to take place on International Women’s Day next Saturday, is the next step in garment workers’ persistent protest of the government’s failure to set the industry’s minimum monthly wage at $160 and the continued detention of 21 garment workers arrested at demonstrations supporting a nationwide garment worker strike in early January.

Workers at some garment factories last week boycotted overtime work. If no progress is made on their demands, workers will stage a strike, during which they will stay home from work, but not hold any public demonstrations, from March 12 until at least March 19.

Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center, yesterday said that the unions had filed a request last Thursday with authorities to hold their forum at Freedom Park.
read more.

* Cambodian workers to be “hardest hit victims” if minority unions still plan strikes: GMAC:

Cambodian workers will be the ultimate victims if minority and violent unions continue to put the garment and shoe industries under the state of uncertainty and unpredictability by continuing to demand for further wage hikes that the industry cannot afford, an employers’ association said in a statement Sunday.

The statement issued by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said although the Labor Advisory Committee had already decided on the new minimum wage by a majority vote, minority and violent unions continue with daily threat of strikes, demonstrations and disruption of the workplace.

“Many factories have reported the reduction in orders starting from April this year as many buyers have evaluated and now consider Cambodia as a high-risk country,” it said.
(…)
The statement came after eight 8 opposition-aligned trade unions jointly announced early this week to renew a garment strike from March 12 to 19 to demand a 160 U.S. dollars minimum wages for garment workers and the release of 21 detainees who were arrested on Jan. 3 during a violent protest.

Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said the eight trade unions represented about 200,000 of the 600,000 workers in more than 900 garment and shoe factories in the kingdom.

“We have no choice, but to proceed with our plan to lead a stay- at-home strike from March 12 to 19 if our demands are not met,” he said Sunday.
read more. & to read. & to read.

22:09:59 local time MALAYSIA

* 100 Employers To Face Music For Not Implementing Minimum Wage:

One hundred employers from throughout the country will face stern action if found to have not implemented the minimum wage.

Human Resources Deputy Minister, Datuk Ismail Abdul Muttalib said the employers were identified after 600 employees lodged complaints against them since the 2012 National Minimum Wage Order was enforced on Jan 1, 2014.

“We have warned the employers involved. If they still fail to adhere to the order, they will face stern action from the ministry,” he said after opening a 1Malaysia Azam Kerja Career Carnival, here, Sunday.
read more.

20140228

22:09:59 local time CHINA

* Migrant worker wages increased by 14 percent in 2013:

The average monthly income of China’s 269 million rural migrant workers stood at 2,609 yuan at the end of 2013, an increase of about 14 percent over the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Vice Minister Yang Zhiming said that migrant worker wages now represented more than half of the total income earned by China’s rural population. However, wage levels for migrant workers are still far below the average wage in the cities, which in 2012 stood at 3,897 yuan per month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, still 50 percent higher than the figure for migrant workers last year.

Migrant workers are still overwhelmingly concentrated in low-paying industries, accounting for 81.8 percent of construction workers, 73.6 percent of the workers in manufacturing and 67.4 percent of workers in the service industry. Yang acknowledged that despite an increase in the number of migrant workers in the hi-tech sector, most migrant workers lacked the skills to obtain high-paying jobs.
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21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Cambodian government must urgently restart dialogue with unions:

At the end of a week of overtime boycotts by garment workers in Cambodia, IndustriALL is urging the Cambodian government to resume negotiations with unions without delay.

“We call upon the government to urgently restart dialogue with the workers’ unions to avoid an escalation of the conflict and a complete breakdown in relations between unions, the government and factory owners,” said IndustriALL’s general secretary Jyrki Raina.
The overtime strike, which began on Monday, has had a noticeable impact on the textile sector in Cambodia. The garment workers are demanding the release of 21 protestors arrested during strikes in January which saw four demonstrators shot dead by police.

The strikers also continue to call for an increase in the minimum wage from the current figure of US$100 to US$160 per month.
Despite a constructive meeting with government ministers, global unions and brands on 19 February, IndustriALL is alarmed by the recent turn of events which has seen the government refusing to register new unions until a new trade union law is passed, which might not be until the end of the year.
read more.

22:09:59 local time INDONESIA

* Next government must address labor productivity : Experts:

Worker productivity must be improved if Indonesia is to retain its status as the darling of investors in the Asia-Pacific region, an expert with Jakarta-based think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

“This must be a concern for the next government as many employers expect wage increases to be in line with a rise in productivity,” CSIS senior researcher Haryo Aswicahyono said on Thursday at the launch of a book entitled Untuk Indonesia 2013-2019: Agenda Ekonomi (For Indonesia 2014-2019: An Economic Agenda) published by CSIS.

The 133-page book highlights several key economic issues that the new government, expected to take office in October, must address to spur or maintain economic growth.

Haryo, one of the book’s authors, said that labor productivity was a key issue in the book as it would be one of investors’ main considerations before pouring their money into the country.

“Indonesia’s labor productivity only grew by 2.8 percent per year from 1980 to 2012, while Thailand grew by 3.6 percent,” he said.

According to combined data from the World Bank and the International Labor Organization (ILO), Indonesia’s average minimum wage rose by 5.5 percent between 2000 and 2011 but its productivity only increased by 3.4 percent, while in China the figures were 7.2 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively.

Minimum wages across Indonesia increased by 30 percent from 2010 to 2013, the highest compared to Thailand (14.2 percent), China (8.4 percent), Vietnam (6.7 percent), Cambodia (5.2 percent), Malaysia (3.3 percent) and the Philippines (3.1 percent), the data shows.
read more.

EGYPT

* Striking workers not included in the minimum income system: Ministry of Finance:

Egyptian workers in various public sectors, including the Postal Authority and the Public Transportation Authority, who entered strikes this week are not eligible for the minimum income system, Mesbah Qotb, the finance minister’s adviser for public outreach, told the Daily News Egypt on Wednesday.

No workers in any business sector public companies and government-owned entities, are eligible for the plan, Qotb said.
This includes the employees of nine holding companies under the authority of the Ministry of Investment, such as Cotton and Textile Industries Holding Company and the Food Industries Holding Company, which have more than 150 subsidiaries branching out of them.
read more.

20140226

21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Workers in 200 factories boycott overtime work:

Workers in about 200 factories boycotted working overtime on Tuesday after having been urged by a coalition of labor unions and associations.

This is part of their campaign toward nationwide strike, according to Cambodian Labor Union Federation.

The coalition of 18 unions and associations appealed to workers to boycott working overtime from February 24-28 to seek the release 21 detained protesters and the demand of USD 160 per month for garment and footwear workers.

If there is no solution for them, they will hold nationwide strike, which is scheduled on March 12-15.
to read.

* Strike Justified, Suppression Not, Experts Say:

Garment workers’ calls for a $160 minimum wage are justified and should be honored, a new report by an international team of academics and labor experts has found.

The authors—including a team from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, South Korean and Philippine union groups, and the Asia Monitor Resource Center in Hong Kong—traveled to Cambodia to speak with workers and union activists following the government’s suppression of garment strikes in January during which five people were killed.

“The demand of Cambodian workers to lift the minimum wage to $160 is fair and reasonable, as their real wages have been stagnant despite their tremendous contribution to Cambodia’s economic growth,” states the 52-page report, which will be released officially on Thursday in Hong Kong.

“The disproportionate use of force by the government to suppress these legitimate protests demonstrates that the government is more concerned with protecting the interests and profits of the employers of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) than protecting the workers’ rights to a decent living wage, freedom of association and other basic human rights,” it continues.
read more.

* Boycott a tough call for many:

Outside the Bloomtime Embroidery factory in Por Sen Chey district yesterday, Chenda, a 23-year-old garment employee, said he would refuse overtime work this week, even though it means a large cut to his monthly wage.

“I can get about $30 per month from overtime work,” said Chenda, who declined to give his full name. “I need the money, but I want to help the other workers who are detained in prison.”

About half an hour later, at 5pm, Theara, 35, walked out of the nearby Bright Sky factory with more than 2,000 other workers finishing their overtime shift.
Forgoing overtime seems pointless, since so few in her factory went along with the boycott, said Theara, who also declined to give her full name.

“On Monday, between 30 and 40 workers among more than 3,000 workers boycotted overtime,” Theara said. “It is difficult to succeed, because workers are not united.”
The actual size of a boycott of overtime work in Cambodia’s garment factories remained dubious yesterday, as it moved into its second day. Garment workers participating demand a minimum monthly wage raise to $160, the release of 21 detainees arrested during demonstrations supporting a garment worker strike early last month and five other points.

Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said more than 150,000 workers across 129 factories boycotted overtime on Monday, but he didn’t yet have yesterday’s total.
read more.

* As Workers Boycott Overtime, CPP Goes on Counteroffensive:

As thousands of garment factory workers continued to boycott working overtime in the first phase of a threatened nationwide strike, Prime Minister Hun Sen and CPP-aligned union leaders have launched their own campaign to keep the industry’s labor force at work.

Mr. Hun Sen personally called on factory workers Tuesday to refrain from taking part in strikes that he said could destroy the garment industry, and CPP-aligned unions distributed leaflets warning workers of the danger of joining the strike, which is planned for the middle of March.

“We try to contact and facilitate factories to invest in Cambodia…and they have moved out from the countries that have high labor prices to our location, which has reasonable labor prices,” Mr. Hun Sen said during a speech at the opening of a coal-powered electricity plant in Preah Sihanouk province.

The prime minister said that people who are supporting workers in their calls for a $160 minimum wage would be exposed as frauds when factories begin to leave the country due to high rates of industrial action.
read more.

* Hun Sen warns strikes will lead to factory closures:

Prime Minister Hun Sen once again warned the labor union leaders would be held responsible for the closure of factories which can be caused by protests and strikes.

Hun Sen made the comments Tuesday, while a coalition of labor unions and associations are currently asking the workers to join nationwide strike scheduled for March 12 to demand the release of 21 detained protesters and the minimum wage of $160 per month for garment and footwear workers.
read more.

* Cambodian PM holds opposition-backed unions responsible for future factory closures due to strikes:

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the opposition-aligned unions, inciting garment workers to stage strikes for higher wages, must take responsibilities for any future closures of factories.

“The government has worked very hard to attract investors to build factories and has urged manufacturers to increase wages for workers every year,” he said during the inauguration of a coal- fired power plant in Preah Sihanouk province.

“We wait and see if any factories close doors due to demonstrations or strikes demanding higher wages,” the prime minister said. “When investors close factories, (unemployed) workers should hold protests against those inciting unions and demand those inciters to find jobs for them.”

The minimum monthly wage for Cambodian garment workers is 100 U. S. dollars.
“Currently, the wages for our garment workers are higher than those of Laos, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Myanmar,” Hun Sen said.

The prime minister’s remarks came after a coalition of 18 opposition-aligned trade unions and associations have incited garment and footwear workers to boycott working overtime since Monday to demand a 160 U.S. dollars minimum wage and the release of 21 detained protesters.
read more.

* Made in Cambodia: Garment Workers Fight Gap, H&M and Others for a Minimum Wage:

As 2013 drew to a close, Cambodian garment factory workers began striking in Phnom Penh for a livable wage.

Recently, the Ministry of Labor had approved a $95-a-month wage, and while this was more than the $80 a month workers had been living on, they held out for $160, which was the bottom end of a “living wage” for Cambodia, according to labor research.

International media coverage showed Cambodian youth clad in skinny jeans, covered in blood and running from the military.
Lost in coverage of the social unrest were the women behind the movement.

The Life of a Cambodian Garment Worker
Of the half-million garment workers in the county, 90 percent are women living on about $3 a day. The garment industry accounts for about 80 percent of Cambodia’s exports.
The majority of textiles exported (70 percent) are destined for popular brands in the United States, like Gap and Wal-Mart, as Cambodia enjoys “most favored nation” status with the United States under the World Trade Organization’s free trade agreement. Supplying the U.S. brands are factories based in Cambodia but owned by East Asian businessmen who contract with western brands.
Cambodian women fill unskilled labor positions, sewing the clothes.
read more.

* Cambodian garment workers take new approach to strikes:

Taking a new approach to strikes, workers at about 100 garment factories in Cambodia are likely to refuse overtime work from this week, reports The Phnom Penh Post.

In Cambodia, employees generally work two to four hours more than their regular eight-hour shift each day. But, to press their seven-point demand, including a raise in the monthly minimum wage to US$ 160 per month, a group of 18 unions and confederations have come together and are encouraging garment workers to refuse overtime, says the report.

In case there is no progress in addressing their demands, even after refusing to work overtime, the unions plan to stage a stay-at-home strike in mid-March.
read more.

20:09:59 local time BANGLADESH

* Garment Worker, Organizers Beaten in Bangladesh:

A Bangladesh garment worker leader and four union organizers, among them two women, were badly injured Saturday when about two dozen people beat, kicked and threw them to the ground as the five were speaking to workers in the dormitory where they live.

One of the organizers was taken from the scene, beaten severely and dumped, unconscious, nearby. He and a female organizer remain in the hospital. The whereabouts of the garment worker are unknown.

According to several witnesses, the attack was carried out by factory managers and other men and women, some of them who worked for the factory, potentially paid to carry out the act—not an uncommon practice in the country. The women in the group were separated from the others and threatened with rape.

The organizers, all working with the Bangladesh Federation of Workers Solidarity, were supporting workers who had earlier approached the union for assistance and who had been fighting to be paid the minimum wage at their factory. The factory, which manufactures for Western brands, employs approximately 4,500 workers—many of who had staged a wage protest February 18, which was ultimately put down by police.
read more.

19:39:59 local time INDIA

* IFTU stages dharna:

In response to a call given by the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), members of the IFTU’s district unit on Tuesday staged a massive dharna in front of the Collectorate demanding implementation of a minimum wage of Rs. 15,000 per month for those who were working in the unorganised sector.

Holding the Union’s flag and banners, the workers raised slogans demanding setting up of Minimum Wage Advisory Board and facilities like the ESI, bonus, provident fund and gratuity to the workforce of the unorganised sector. President and general secretary of the IFTU’s district unit K. Joji and Ch. Venkateswara Rao respectively spoke.
to read.

20140225

21:09:59 local time CAMBODIA

* Overtime boycott under way:

Garment workers march towards the Ministry of Labour in Phnom Penh during a demonstration late last year to demand the industry’s minimum wage be raised to $160. Photo by POST STAFF

A threatened overtime boycott began at many of Cambodia’s garment factories yesterday – but not everyone could afford to walk off the job at her shift’s scheduled end.

At 4pm, thousands of workers poured out of their factories as part of their ongoing calls for a $160 monthly minimum wage and the release of 21 men arrested during a strike last month, said Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers.

“Workers almost everywhere – in every province – left without doing overtime,” he stated.
Sina said last night that workers from more than 200 factories had walked off the job. At 60 of those factories, he added, every worker had taken part in the strike.

Sean Sophal, a worker representative from SL Garment in Phnom Penh, said employees had decided to boycott overtime for the rest of the week.

“We decided not to work overtime from today until Friday in order to demand higher wages and to urge relevant institutions to find a resolution to our demands,” she said.
But not everyone could forgo the extra pay that overtime adds to their meagre salaries.

Bouy Srey Mom, a worker at Siu Quinh Garment in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, said she needed to keep working to support her family.
“I can get $1 per hour [for overtime], and I only do two hours per day,” she said.
read more.

* Garment Workers Begin Boycott of Overtime:

Labor unions and garment factory owners gave opposing reports of the scale of an overtime boycott that began Monday as the first phase of a nationwide labor strike planned for next month.

Union leaders estimated that workers refused to work overtime at between 100 and 200 factories, while the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) said that “very, very few” of the country’s more than 400 factories were affected by the industrial action.

“Most factories are working at normal overtime,” said Ken Loo, secretary-general of GMAC. “Only certain factories where these unions have majority of members [are affected]. There are some small pockets here and there.”
“But most factories are not affected,” Mr. Loo added. “This goes to prove what we have said all along, that a minority of workers want to strike and the majority want to work.”

However, Ath Thorn, head of the country’s largest independent union, said that about 25 percent of the country’s exporting garment factories saw workers walk out after eight hours on the job.
“We can estimate that [workers at] about 100 factories boycotted working overtime,” Mr. Thorn said, adding that workers walked out of factories along National Roads 1, 4, 5, 6 and on Veng Sreng Street, where five protesting garment workers were shot dead by military police on January 3.
read more.

20140224

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Overtime strike set to begin:

Garment workers gather behind razor wire in Phnom Penh during a demonstration in December. Garment workers have been encouraged to turn down overtime until their demands are met. Photo by Vireak Mai.

Labour union leaders expect employees from at least 100 garment factories around the country to refuse overtime work this week, as workers ease their way into a new approach to strikes.

A total of 18 unions and union confederations – eight in the garment sector and another 10 representing workers in other industries – are encouraging workers to refuse overtime in the Kingdom’s garment factories, where employees typically work at least two to four hours longer than their regular eight-hour shifts each day, said Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU).

“People, now they plan to implement our strategy,” Thorn said in an interview.
Unlike the last large-scale garment worker strike, which turned deadly in January, the renewed strike will not include demonstrations, Thorn said.
read more.

* Unions Set to Begin First Phase of Nationwide Strike:

A coalition of 18 labor unions and associations is today set to begin the first phase of a nationwide labor strike in the garment sector by calling on workers in about 100 factories to boycott working overtime, according to union leaders.

Despite efforts by the government to stifle the strike, the union leaders, who claim to represent more than 300,000 workers in the garment sector, said they will continue distributing leaflets informing workers about the threatened strike in the middle of March.

“We expect that about 100 factories will join the strike tomorrow by not working overtime while we are in the process of distributing [leaflets],” said Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union.

Mr. Thorn said that although local authorities have attempted to prevent the distribution of leaflets outside some factories, the message was still getting out.

“Although we have encountered some problems and been interrupted by authorities while distributing the leaflets, they have been successfully delivered,” he said. “Some [workers] already got our message through Facebook, the radio and other media.”
read more.

* Unions begin campaign to call on workers to boycott working overtime:

Labour unions and associations on Monday begin their first phase of nationwide strike by asking workers to boycott their working overtime as part of campaign to seek the release of 21 detained protesters and to demand the minimum wage of USD160 per month.

Ath Thon, President of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said that a collation of 18 unions and association appealed to workers not to work over time from today, and will urge workers not to work on March 12.
read more.

20140222-23

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* 800 garment workers on peaceful strike:

Some 800 workers from a Taiwanese-owned Yu Da Garment Industry (Cambodia) Co., Ltd protested Saturday to demand better working condition and pay.

The workers at the factory in Kakap commune in Porsen Chey district on the outskirt of the Phnom Penh capital, were demanding Seav Ling, head of packaging section, be removed, 2,000 riel allowance (USD0.5) per day for food, USD15 for rent and transportation, and USD20 for skilled workers, and other demands.

Lour Sopheak, Secretary General of Khmer Power Federation Union, said that the workers protested after the factory employers rejected to negotiate with worker representatives over their demands.
Yu Da Garment factory employs around 1,000 workers.
read more.

* Labor union asks workers not to go on strike:

Trade Union Workers Federation of Progress Democracy (TUWFPD) on Sunday appealed to workers in garment sector not to attend strikes called by other union leaders, saying that the strikes would adversely affect the workers themselves.

The appeal is made after some labor unions are distributing leaflets to workers to urge them to attend the strikes in order to demand the release of 21 detained protesters and the minimum wage of $160 per month for garment and footwear factory workers.
The strikes are scheduled for March 12.

A statement of TUWFPD said that a small group of labor unions are preparing their plans to protest and strike in order to cause chaos.
The TUWFPD called on the federations, labor unions, and associations to be patient, and workers to work as usual and wait for wage solutions by the government.
It also condemned union groups, which disturb workers from doing their work, and asked authorities in all levels to take actions to prevent workers from being interrupted.
to read.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* Minimum wages and new salary schemes will increase Malaysia’s household income:

Household income in Malaysia is projected to increase, especially with the introduction of the minimum wage and new salary schemes.

RHB Research Senior Economist, Shafizal Shafaai said the minimum wage requirement for the private sector, effective Jan 1, 2013, would likely increase the household income.
He said the Civil Service Remuneration Scheme announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the Budget 2012 would also contribute to improving household income, with a higher annual increment of RM80 to RM320.
This is on top of the revised salary of seven per cent to 13 per cent.
“Similarly, the standardisation of the Armed Forces’ remuneration will also help partially offset the impact of higher inflation due to the subsidy rationalisation,” he told Bernama.
read more. & read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* IndustriALL urges govt to make labour law compliant with ILO standards:

The IndustriALL Global Union called upon the government Saturday for continuation of its reforms in the Bangladesh Labour Act to make the law fully compliant with the standards of International Labour Organisation (ILO).

IndustriALL, a global trade union federation, also sought commitment from the brands that sourced from the garment factories at collapsed Rana Plaza for urgent payment to an agreed trust fund for compensating victims and their families.
The visiting general secretary of the IndustriALL Jyrki Raina made the call at a press conference at a city hotel.

The press conference was also attended, among others, by Sudhershan Rao Sarde, South Asia regional secretary of the IndustriALL, Nazrul Islam Khan, chairman of its Bangladesh Chapter and Roy Ramesh Chandra, the chapter’s general secretary.
“We ask the Bangladesh government to continue with the labour law reform to make it fully compliant with the ILO standards,” Mr Raina said.
He, however, underscored the need for continuation of annual revisions of the minimum wage for RMG workers in order to reach a reasonable standard of wage in the country.
read more.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Power loom units go on strike:

About two lakh power looms in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts stopped production on Friday demanding higher wages from the master weavers.

P. Kumarasamy, secretary of Coimbatore District job-working power loom unit owners’ association, said almost all the power loom units in the two districts that do job work have stopped operations and the production loss is estimated to be Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 40 crore a day.

The two districts have about 15,000 power loom units that do job work for the master weavers. The units produce about 40 varieties of unprocessed cotton fabric. Less than five per cent of the units produce saris and dhotis.

An agreement was signed about two-and-a-half years ago for the wages that the master weavers pay to these units. With input costs, especially for power, going up multi-fold for the units that do the job work, the weavers are seeking 80 per cent hike in wages.
read more.

20140221

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* GMAC warns of factory closures if unionists insist on $160 per month:

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) warned that 80 percent of factories would be closed if union leaders still lead the protests, demanding the minimum wage of USD160 per month.

“If labor union groups still lead protest to demand $160 per month for workers, the factory employers would not afford such demands, and 80 percent of the factories would be closed, while some would move to other countries,” Van Sou Ieng, GMAC’s President, said Thursday.
read more.

* Made in Cambodia: A Multi-Fiber Thread of Tears:

As 2013 drew to a close, Cambodian garment factory workers began striking in Phnom Penh for a livable wage.

Another $5 a month was offered, but workers rejected it. By January 3, the non-violent strikes ended in a military crackdown and riots. Four garment workers were shot dead, another was shot in the chest and is missing, and more than 30 were injured. A ban on public assembly was put in place, and 23 labor leaders were arrested.
(…)
The Life of a Cambodian Garment Worker
Of the half-million garment workers in the county, 90 percent are women living on about $3 a day. The garment industry accounts for about 80 percent of Cambodia’s exports. The majority of textiles exported (70 percent) are destined for popular brands in the United States, like Gap and Wal-Mart, as Cambodia enjoys “most favored nation” status with the United States under the World Trade Organization’s free trade agreement. Supplying the U.S. brands are factories based in Cambodia but owned by East Asian businessmen who contract with western brands. Cambodian women fill unskilled labor positions, sewing the clothes.

Hailing from remote regions in the countryside, factory workers typically cram into the back of a truck once a month in order to visit their families, who they help support. About 80 percent of the country still lives as subsistence farmers with young garment workers providing a vital link, sending money home to aging parents and siblings in school.
read more.

14:45:43 local time BURMA/MYANMAR

* Shoe factory workers strike against low wages:

Around 600 workers have gone on strike at the Master Sport Shoe Factory in Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone, in Yangon, because of low wages, forced overtime and rude supervisors.

The workers of the Korean-owned shoe factory submitted a list of 10 demands, including a raise in hourly wages, the dismissal of rude supervisors and not to be charged Ks 6,000 (US$ 6) for each day of leave.

“We demanded 10 points including firing [factory supervisor] Ma Lei Lei Win. The employer verbally agreed to 9 points but he did not agree to dismiss Ma Lei Lei Win. He said, even if the factory has to close down, he cannot dismiss her. The fact that he cannot agree on that point, cancelled his agreement for all other points,” said worker Kyu Kyu Thin.
read more.

20140220

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Global unions and brands meet with Cambodian government:

Global unions and a number of international brands have met with the Cambodian government to discuss the situation in the country’s garment industry following police violence that left four workers dead.

The violent end to the strike of Cambodian garment workers, rallying for an increased minimum wage in January, left four people dead, 39 injured and 23 workers imprisoned. Recently two workers were released. Of the remaining 21 detainees, 16 are on hunger strike.

IndustriALL Global Union and the ITUC were joined by brands including H&M and Puma in the talks with the Cambodian government in Phnom Penh on Wednesday 19 February.

The unions released a statement following the meeting. It read, “We can confirm that on Wednesday 19 February, a delegation representing 30 global brands and global trade unions met with H.E. Keat Chhon, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia and high level representation from the Royal Cambodian Government.

“The meeting was called by the Cambodian government, in response to a request by the group in a letter sent on 17th January. In that letter, the brands and trade unions expressed their concerns with respect to treatment of Cambodian garment workers some of whom have been killed or wounded and others who have been detained by security forces.

“The meeting was held as an open and frank exchange during which the government shared their perspective on the situation and the actions already being taken.
During the meeting the following key points were discussed.
read more.

* BetterFactories Media updates 18-20 February 2014, 2014-02-20 Brands, gov’t, unions meet on the issues:

* To read in the printed edition of the Phnom Penh Post:
2014-02-19 Raises pending, prices soaring
2014-02-20 Brands, gov’t, unions meet on the issues

* To read in the printed edition of the Cambodia Daily:
2014-02-20 Brands meet with gov’t over labor unrest
2014-02-20 Printing shops’ refusal to print strike leaflets delays unions

BetterFactories Media Updates Overview here.

20140219

16:15:43 local time PHILIPPINES

* Labor group welcomes less tax on 13th month, bonus:

Labor federation Trade Union Congress of the Philippines welcomes the move by Senate and House of Representatives to support a bill that raises the tax exemption ceiling on 13th month pay, bonus and other worker’s benefits.

TUCP Director for Education Rafael Mapalo said if the current tax ceiling on those extra income mentioned is amended, it would result in bigger take home pay for current minimum wage earners. However, he said the government must also look at improving the daily wage rate.

“Government has got to find a way to improve the purchasing power of minimum wage earners and allow them to feel the benefits of a growing economy,” Mapalo told Manila Bulletin Online.
“Increased income and decent jobs would spur economic growth. This should be our national concerns,” Mapalo added.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Raises pending, prices soaring:

Since Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng announced in late-December that the ministry would hike the minimum monthly wage for the garment sector to $100, Nuch Sdoeung has, at times, questioned if he could even afford beef.

“We do not yet earn a base wage of $100, but my landlord raised the price of my rental room by $5, and food prices have skyrocketed,” Sdoeung, a 35-year-old employee at SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd, said yesterday.

The wage boost from the prior minimum wage of $80 – which includes a $5 health bonus – went into effect on February 1, Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said in a text message yesterday. But garment workers will not be paid February’s wages until next month. In the interim, they endure the price escalation without enjoying pay gains.

The recent $20 minimum wage increase stands apart from previous raises in industry pay, due to the nationwide strike – which authorities violently quashed in early January – it sparked when union groups demanded $160. However, the problem of price gouging in areas where workers live once a pay increase is announced is longstanding, said Dave Welsh, country director for labour rights group Solidarity Center.

“Just the way the industry is structured … rent and food around the factories are totally pegged to the minimum wage,” Welsh said. “It’s a huge, huge problem for most workers.”
read more.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Power loom units to go on strike:

Power loom units that take up job works for master weavers in Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts will not function from February 21.

The unit owners are seeking higher wages from the master weavers.
The last wage agreement between the job-working power loom unit owners and the master weavers was signed about two-and-a-half years ago. Coimbatore and Tirupur districts have nearly 15,000 job-working units with about two lakh looms. These provide employment for two lakh people.
to read.

20140215-16

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Authority warns as unionists ready to convince 100, 000 workers to join nationwide strike:

100,000 leaflets would be printed and distributed next week to garment workers in the country to urge them to join nationwide strike to put pressure on the government and the Cambodian courts to release 21 workers in jail and to increase the minimum wage of the workers up to USD160 per month.

The leaflets were ready to be printed and be delivered to the workers on March 12 after n
Nine labor unions and associations agreed already on the printing and distribution of the leaflets to invite the workers to join the strike, which is schedule for March 12.

Fa Sali, President of Coalition of National Union, said Saturday that the leaflets would contain eight lists of demands such as the request for the release of imprisoned protesters and the increase of minimum to USD160 per month.
read more.

* Garment unions regroup, plan peaceful strike in March:

Cambodian garment factory workers will be urged to skip work for a week in mid-March in a series of escalating non-cooperation measures over wages and conditions.

Unions representing garment industry employees in Cambodia are appealing to workers to boycott overtime from February 24 to 28, which they hope will force the government and factory owners to take their demands seriously.

The general will take place on March 12 when, instead of demonstrating on the streets or outside factories, workers will be urged to simply stay at home.

Eight of Cambodia’s largest non government-aligned unions agreed Wednesday on a series of civil disobedience measures designed to disrupt production in Cambodia’s largest export industry.
The unions’ strategy avoids violating the ban on public demonstrations established after last month’s unrest, when military and security forces beat and fired upon demonstrators supporting the strike, killing five and injuring dozens.

“The unions care about the life of their members, and it’s very hard for the police and soldiers [to respond] when the people simply stay at home,” said Moeun Tola, the head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center.
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* Indonesia – minimum wage must equal living wage now!:

At a press conference today in Jakarta, Said Iqbal president of IndustriALL affiliate FSPMI and the KSPI confederation, together with Jyrki Raina, secretary general of IndustriALL Global Union, sent a clear message to the Indonesian government: the minimum wage must be raised to a living wage and all workers must benefit from social security.

IndustriALL Global Union secretary general Jyrki Raina expressed the global union’s full support for the Indonesian trade unions’ campaign for continued increases of minimum wages to secure a living wage, the social security reform and limiting outsourcing in favour of decent jobs.

At a meeting with the director general of the Ministry of manpower on Thursday, Jyrki Raina conveyed the message that wage increases are nothing to fear.
“Last year, we saw increasing minimum wages in many countries around Asia. Unions in Bangladesh managed to get a 77 per cent increase in 2013, and the minimum wage in China is already higher than in Indonesia. It is high time that Indonesian workers and their families get their share of the profits they actually help creating.”

President of the FSPMI and the KSPI Said Iqbal said that for 2015, the unions would ask for a 30% increase of the minimum wage.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* New wage implementation- RMG workers`human chain:

Two readymade garment workers organizations staged human-chain demonstrations on Friday demanding implementation of minimum wages and immediate payment of compensation to Rana Plaza victims.

Bangladesh Readymade Garment Industry Workers` Federation and Bangladesh United Workers` Federation jointly agitated in front of Jatiya Press club.
Bangladesh United Workers Federation president Principal Tofazzal Hossain announced that Rana Plaza victims were still awaiting compensation.

Bangladesh Garments Industry Workers Federation Union president Tauhidur Rahman said that although the new wage structure for readymade garment workers had been announced in December 2013, not steps had been take to enforce it.
Workers Federation president Nazma Aktar, general secretary Tahmina Rahman and executive president Golam Kudrat-e-Khuda participated in the human chain program.
to read.

* Take effective measures to ensure workers’ welfare: PM:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday directed the Labour and Employment Ministry to take effective measures for the welfare of the workers by creating a congenial working atmosphere and ensuring appropriate wages for them.

It is one of the main responsibilities of the government to ensure minimum wages for the workers, a big strength for the country, she said in her introductory speech at a meeting with the high officials of the Labour and Employment Ministry at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

Sheikh Hasina, also in-charge of the Labour and Employment Ministry, directed the officials concerned to complete within the stipulated time the unfinished or under implemented development programs and projects under the Ministry, which were taken during the last tenure of her government.

She said that though there is no scope to allow ‘trade union’ in the EPZ areas of the country under the existing law, but steps should be taken to ensured the welfare of the workers.
read more. & read more.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Sonia promises uniform minimum wages:

Uniform national-level minimum wages will soon become a reality, All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi has said.

Addressing a State-level rally of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) at the Asramam Maidan here on Saturday, she said the United Progressive Alliance government was taking steps to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for the purpose.
The rally was organised to herald the two-day all-India working committee meeting of the INTUC which will be held here from Monday. Ms. Gandhi said a separate fund for the social security and welfare of workers from the unorganised sector was being set up.
read more. & read more.

20140214

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Brands set for gov’t sit-down:

Global brands Puma and H&M are among a group of international buyers set to meet Cambodian government officials in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, only weeks ahead of planned labour action that could see thousands of apparel workers stay home.

The scheduled sit-down comes just a month after 30 brands and international unions sent a letter calling on the government to address several labour rights issues in the Kingdom.

A spokeswoman for Puma yesterday confirmed that a representative for the company would be among those meeting with a deputy prime minister on February 19, but declined to answer questions regarding the meeting’s topic. A spokeswoman for Swedish clothing brand H&M also confirmed the company will send a delegate, but declined to go into further detail.

While neither brand representative identified which deputy prime minister they are scheduled to meet, Keat Chhon, one of several to carry that title, is now heading a government committee to investigate minimum wages.
read more.

* From Cambodia’s prisons, workers’ voices are still being heard:

In Cambodia, 23 workers have been jailed. Their demands were far from criminal: a liveable minimum wage.

Earlier this week, trade unions from around the world rallied in front of Cambodian embassies for the release of the jailed workers and for a liveable minimum wage.
In Cambodia, the minimum wage is now US$100 per month. According to a government-backed study, a wage of between US$157-177 is minimum required to allow people to meet their minimum monthly needs.

Yet, making the minimum wage a living wage is not the priority of Cambodian authorities.
Between 2-3 January 2014, heavily armed police, military and paid thugs resorted to violence and intimidation to quash peaceful strikes and demonstrations for an adequate minimum wage of up to US$160.
read more.

* Cambodia garment worker dreams of better future:

Garment factories are the backbone of Cambodia’s economy, yet the people working the sewing machines make just a few dollars a day. Chem Chan is one of them, who despite hardship holds out hope for a better life.

On Sunday, the Prek Tea traditional market near Phnom Penh’s airport is alive with the sounds of shouting vendors, TVs in cafés and the busy cleavers of fruit sellers. Chem Chan is in the middle of all this controlled chaos, shopping and running errands. Sunday is the only day she can take care of practical matters. During the other six days of the week, the 25-year-old is sitting behind a sewing machine in one of the many garment factories in the area. Her days start when she gets up at 5 a.m. and often end when she leaves the factory at 8 or 10 p.m.

“Then I come home, eat food left over from lunch, and go to bed,” she says. “Then I get up again at five the next morning.”

This exhausting regimen is a reality for the majority of Cambodia’s approximately 600,000 garment workers. Most of them are young women from poor, rural families who have come to the factories where they can earn more money than they could in their home villages. Still, sewing clothes for international brands like H&M and Gap earns them only around $3.33 a day, unless they work four to six hours of overtime after each shift. Then if they’re lucky, they might make around $125 (around 92 euros) a month.
read more.

14:45:43 local time BURMA/MYANMAR

* Myanmar conducting survey to set minimum wage:

Research groups in cooperation with the International Labour Organization are conducting a survey to set a minimum wage for workers, according to a national committee.

The groups comprising officials from Myanmar Development Resource Institute and Myanmar Marketing and Research Development are working in Yangon, Mandalay and Bago regions. A similar survey will also be made in other states and regions, including the capital Nay Pyi Taw.

Researchers are collecting data about the present salaries and wages of the workers as well as their daily expenses. The survey will also include the flow of migrant workers to neighbouring countries and the impact on domestic workers.
According to the researchers, setting a minimum wage includes many things such as commodity prices, services, workers’ production capacity, national economic status, consumer demand, inflation rate and how employers can afford to pay salaries.

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare will submit a proposal on a minimum wage to parliament before the end of 2014.
to read.

* Calculating a Living Wage:

A regional calculation of a living wage is necessary in order to ensure workers receive a decent wage. The Asia Floor Wage calculates a floor level that no wage in Asia should drop below.

A Living Wage calculation across a region is key in ensuring workers receive a decent wage, but also that wage differences do not mean companies pull out of one country to move manufacturing to a country with lower costs – the so called race to the bottom.

Living wage calculations must take into account some common factors including the number of family members to be supported, the basic nutritional needs of a worker and other basic needs including housing, healthcare, education and some basic savings.

Clean Clothes Campaign is part of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance – an alliance of Asian trade unions and labour groups who have calculated a living wage formula for Asia.

The 2013 Asia Floor Wage figure is PPP$725.
Click here to see how this translates to local currencies.

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance base their calculations on the following assumptions:
* A worker needs to be able to support themselves and two other “consumption units” (1 Consumption unit = 1 adult or 2 children)
* An adult requires 3,000 calories a day to be able to carry out their work.
* In Asia food costs account for half a workers monthly outgoings.

The Asia Floor Wage is calculated in PPP$ – Purchasing Power Parity $, which are an imaginary World Bank currency built on the consumption of goods and services by people, allowing standard of living between countries to be compared regardless of the national currency.
The Asia Floor Wage Alliance carry out regular food basket research in the region to calculate new Asia Floor Wage figures.
read more.

* FWF Wage Ladder:

Straight to the FWF Wage Ladder
Download the quick guide here
Payment of a living wage is one of FWF’s eight labour standards.
A living wage means that workers’ basic needs, including food, clothing, housing, healthcare and education, are met. The idea is simple: people who work a normal working week should be able to make a living.

The export-oriented garment industry has great potential to lift millions of workers worldwide out of poverty. In most low-cost production countries, however, wages are too low for workers to meet basic needs, like food, shelter, and health care. The obvious answer to relieving the poverty of workers participating in garment supply chains is to find mechanisms that increase the wages of those at the bottom of the supply chain.

While global garment supply chains generate enormous wealth, improving wages, has proven a challenge. Progress has stalled in discussions about what, exactly, constitutes a living wage. Sidestepping these discussions, FWF has developed a web-based tool that will help garment brands and factories to gradually improve workers’ wages.

A first step is to find out what wages are in a certain factory, how they relate to various wage benchmarks and to wages in other factories. To make these comparisons possible, FWF has developed the Wage Ladder, an innovative online tool that helps brands, factories, trade unions and NGOs to work towards living wages for garment and other workers.
Read more in the FWF Living Wage policy or in the Wage Ladder Background Study.
read more.
fairwear

20140213

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Strike strategy shifts:

Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun leads a march along Sisowath Quay on Tuesday demanding 21 detainees be released and higher wages in the garment industry. Photo by Heng Chivoan.

In the wake of a Tuesday court decision to deny bail to 21 detainees arrested at demonstrations supporting a nationwide garment worker strike, union groups yesterday agreed to reignite the strike, but to dial back their tactics.

On sheets of drawing board paper, leaders of nine union groups mapped out their timeline for the strike, which will not begin until the middle of next month and will call for workers to remain home for the strike’s duration, rather than participate in demonstrations.
“We will prepare and distribute letters to workers, so that all will know and understand the purpose of this strategy,” Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said at the meeting.

The previous strike lasted from December 24 until January 3, and only included garment sector workers, but union leaders said they will now appeal to workers in all industries to participate.
Labour representatives today today are to begin distributing to government officials and workers a letter detailing their plan to boycott overtime work at factories from February 24 to February 28; hold a public forum on March 8; and finally stage a stay-home strike from March 12 until March 19. Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, who heads a committee to investigate minimum wages, is to be an invitee to the forum.

If government officials do not free the 21 detainees, agree to a $160 minimum wage in the Kingdom’s garment and shoe industries, and comply with five other demands, the strike will continue indefinitely, Chhun said.
The timeline both gives the government time to mull over and negotiate the unions’ seven points and gives the unions time to recruit workers to participate in the strike, said Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU).

“I think now, we have a month for the government to consider [our points],” Thorn said in a phone interview after the meeting, adding that the delayed strike will also provide time for international brands to apply pressure on the government, if they are willing.
read more.

* Unions Plan 2nd Round of Mass Strikes:

After the Court of Appeal denied bail to 21 jailed protesters on Tuesday, 16 labor unions and associations announced Wednesday that they will retaliate by calling a nationwide labor strike in the middle of March.

The unions, which mainly represent workers in the garment industry, said they will also call on their members to cease working overtime between February 24 and 28 to demonstrate to factory owners and the government the importance of taking their demands seriously.
“From [February] 18 to 23, our unions will gather in front of factories to disseminate information about our seven demands,” said Yaing Sophorn, president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions.

The demands include the release of the 21 protest prisoners, a $160 minimum wage for garment workers, the prosecution of state forces who killed five protesting strikers on January 3, an end to the government’s ban on demonstrations, an end to legal action against union leaders who organized the first round of nationwide strike in December, and the payment of worker’s salaries during the strike.
Ms. Sophorn said the unions have given the government ample time to consider their demands, which have not changed fundamentally since December mass strikes.
read more.

* Labor unions warn of nationwide strike next month:

Labor Unions and associations would hold nationwide strike next month to seek the release of 21 detained protesters who were rejected bail by the Court of Appeal, and to demand the minimum wage of USD160 per month for workers.

The plan of strike, which is scheduled for 12-19 March, came after a Wednesday’s meeting attended by leaders from 16 labor unions and associations.

Leaders of labor unions and associations agreed to hold the strike on 12-19 March. The workers will be informed not to go to work, said Ath Thon, President of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU).
read more.

20140212

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Labor Ministry Ignored Its Own Research on Minimum Wage:

The Labor Ministry on Tuesday defended its failure to act on the results of its own study, which in November found that the minimum livable wage for garment factory workers is between $157 and $177.

In its annual report, the ministry listed its wage study, carried out in conjunction with labor unions from both sides of the political divide, as its top achievement of 2013, despite the fact that it ignored the results and raised the minimum wage to just $95, since revised to $100 after mass strikes in December.

Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Suor said Tuesday that with plenty of extra hours worked in factories, workers could earn the wage they had demanded.
“The workers, most of them, they do get the $160 they have been demanding,” Mr. Suor said.

“They are allowed to work overtime and they also get other bonuses that give them enough money to live and also enough money to save and send to their families,” he said, referring to the country’s more than 400,000 garment factory workers.
read more.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* FMM: Review minimum wage:

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has proposed to the government to review the implementation of minimum wage especially in the manufacturing sector as many companies in the industry have expressed difficulty in complying with the policy.

Delegates from the FMM met the International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed in Kuala Lumpur yesterday and discussed issues pertaining to minimum wages and also other issues affecting the manufacturing industry, such as market competitiveness and foreign labour processes.

“If we are competitive, we can increase exports and at the same time Malaysian companies can capture a larger domestic market. We will work with FMM in formulating ideas to increase and enhance competitiveness in domestic market and exports,” he told reporters at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Networking session with the private sector in conjunction with Chinese New Year 2014 yesterday.
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates:

3. Provincial Minimum Wage postponement approved, workers threat the companies. Read the full article here (Article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
Read the Google Translate English Version here.

BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates Overview here.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Wage agreement reached for NTC workers:

Following an agreement reached on the wage issue for workers of the National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills in the State, the workers will return to work from midnight on Tuesday after a 22-day strike.

Labour Department officials held talks with representatives of the trade unions and the NTC management on Monday and Tuesday in Madurai and on Tuesday evening, representatives of four trade unions (CITU, INTUC, LPF and NDLF) signed an agreement with the NTC management in the presence of the officials. C. Padmanabhan, general secretary of Coimbatore District Mill Labour Union (CITU), told The Hindu that the five-year agreement was for increase in wages by Rs. 1,650 a month for each worker, payment of arrears for seven months, from June 1, 2013.
read more.

20140210

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* When Freedom Meets Oppression: Timeline of Recent Events:

A female garment worker joins a peacefully rally in front of the Ministry of Labor on December 28, 2013 demanding a monthly living wage of $160. Ninety percent of garments workers in Cambodia are women.

LICADHO has compiled a timeline summarizing the series of event leading to and following the January 2-3-4, 2014, lethal clampdown on labour and political demonstrations in Cambodia’s capital. A Khmer version is available here.

December 15, 2013
The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the main opposition party, begins their third post-election mass protest by staging a permanent occupation of Freedom Park, intended to last for three months.

December 22, 2013
After one week of evening rallies in the streets of Phnom Penh, CNRP hosts the largest march in Cambodia since 1998 to protest the current political situation.

December 24, 2013
The Labour Advisory Council announces its decision to raise the living wage from $80 to only $95 by April 2014. The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MOL) also outlines a plan to increase the minimum wage to $160 by 2018.
read more.

* Court under pressure to free 23 protesters in jail:

Some 50 anti-eviction activists from property development sites Boeung Kok, Borei Keila and Thmor Kol rallied on Monday to submit a petition to Ministry of Justice, asking for the release of detained protesters.

The activists, holding banners, shouted demand in front of the Ministry of Justice. There was no disturbance or crackdown by the authority despite protest ban imposed after the bloody crackdowns in January.
Boeung Kok representative Tep Vanny, prominent anti-eviction activist, handed the petition to the Ministry of Justice and Appeal Court of Appeal.
The Appeal Court will have a hearing on the case of the 23 protesters, two of whom were released on bail last week, tomorrow.

Labour unionists and human rights activists also rallies this morning at Preah Angdong Koeur shrine before they presented the petitions to the foreign embassies in Phnom Penh.
The unionists also maintained their stance to demand USD160 per month for garment and footwear factory workers.
to read.

For more on Cambodian Garment Workers Protest see here.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* MTUC wants RM300 Cola:

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) yesterday called for a monthly RM300 cost of living allowance (Cola ) for private sector employees to meet rising costs.

Its president Mohd Khalid Atan said a memorandum on the matter will be submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem soon.
He told theSun that there is a need for such a policy in the private sector, which had been hit by rising costs.
“It’s difficult to survive on just the RM900 minimum wage,” he said after chairing a general council meeting.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* The economics of min wage: Good intentions, bad outcomes:

‘Focusing on supply side policies such as education, healthcare and training to boost long-term productivity of the workforce would lead to a better outcome than a one-off hike in minimum wages’

Workers are seen working in a garment factory

Recently, after rounds of negotiations the minimum wage for blue collar RMG workers was increased by 77%.

The humanitarian in me rejoiced at the news, as I believe that their income was too low to support a decent standard of living. These people have been shedding blood, sweat and tears for our country and quite frankly they deserve better.

However, the economist in me was not so sure about how much it would help them or even the economy itself. Before you pigeonhole me as the stereotypical “crony capitalist,” I would ask that you at least peruse my reasoning.

Let me start with a bit of theory. Free market economists, particularly of the Austrian school of thought (Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, etc) speak vehemently against any sort of government intervention.

Their logic, when applied to minimum wage, is simple. Setting a price above the market determined price will take the market to a disequilibrium and thus demand will be lower than supply.
read more.

20140207

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Poverty Wages Unraveling Cambodia’s Garment Industry:

Cambodia’s garment industry is regularly plagued with strikes and protests. But when armed security forces opened fire on striking workers in the capital city of Phnom Penh on Jan. 3, killing five and injuring dozens, it suddenly became clear that this was not just another protest.

With the situation left unresolved since, advocacy groups are urging clothing brands to review their purchasing practices and take action to ultimately end low wages, which are at the root of the bloody demonstrations in Cambodia.

“Workers are getting very angry,” Anannya Bhattacharjee of the New Delhi-based Asia Floor Wage Alliance, told IPS. “There is a lot of explosiveness. They do not want to tolerate the current situation of continuing poverty anymore.”

Statutory minimum wages determined by national governments and industries usually fall short of workers’ demands. In the case of Cambodia, the government first offered to raise monthly pay from 80 to 95 dollars, then to 100. Striking workers, however, insisted that the minimum level should be 160 dollars.

Asia Floor Wage, which has been campaigning for higher minimum wages across garment-producing countries in Asia, believes that if statutory minimum wages are not high enough, multinational companies need to be involved.
read more.

* Threat of ‘mass strike’ looms:

Garment workers gather behind barbed wire on Phnom Penh’s Russian Boulevard during a demonstration in December. Photo by Vireak Mai.

Workers from more than 200 garment factories are to take part in industrial action on Monday, but unions yesterday hesitated to call it a mass strike, saying they plan one of those for later next week if their demands aren’t met.

The chances of another mass strike occurring increased last night when a government committee announced after a four-hour meeting that it would not be raising the minimum wage, despite unions demanding at least $160 per month.

“In the meeting today, we did not talk about the amount … but only the technical side – how we can support the LAC [Labour Advisory Committee] determine whether it can accept [the unions’ demands] or not,” Ministry of Labour spokesman Heng Sour said.

Representatives of nine union confederations met earlier at the Community Legal Education Center after some had told the media that another large-scale demonstration was imminent.

Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said after the meeting that unions had agreed to stand firm on their demands, which included, among other things, a wage increase and the release of 23 unionists and workers imprisoned since violent crackdowns last month.

“Our members from about 200 factories over the country will gather at their factories to demand the government release the 23 workers and six other points on Monday, one day before their Appeal Court bail request,” Sina said. “If the court does not allow the 23 workers to go free, we will announce a second mass strike.”
read more.

* Unions to March After Failure to Address Minimum Wage:

Six garment worker unions and two general labor unions said Thursday that they will march on Monday along Phnom Penh’s Sisowath Quay and to various foreign embassies to protest the government’s inaction to address their calls for a higher minimum wage.

The call to action was issued after a high-level government committee failed Thursday to address the minimum wage issue, saying there was no plan for any raise at this time.
“We have decided on Monday to gather more than 300 people from different unions and NGOs to…march to the shrine near the riverside,” said Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers.

Afterward, the unions will deliver a seven-point petition seeking support from foreign embassies including the U.S., China, France and Britain, Mr. Sina said.
“We will not protest on that day. We just plan to submit petitions with embassies to ask for their help in achieving our demands,” he said.

The petition calls for a $160 minimum wage for garment workers, the release of 23 protesters imprisoned last month during strikes for a higher minimum wage, the prosecution of state forces who killed five protesters on January 3, an end to the government’s ban on demonstrations, an end to legal action against union leaders who organized a nationwide strike in December, and the payment of salaries for workers who took part in that strike.
read more.

* Garment workers to receive USD 100 per month from February:

The Government already issued a Decision to require the employers to increase the minimum wage for the factory workers to USD 100 per month, starting from February 2014, said a government official.

Vong Savann, a senior official of the Labor Ministry added that the Decision was already issued by the Ministry and was acceptable by representatives of employees and employers.
However, a number of Union Workers have rejected the offer.

Before the increase, the workers received only USD80 per month.
Sovann said the recently established Committee led by Keat Chhon, a Deputy Prime Minister, is further studying the possibility of wage increase. However, it has not yet been clear when another phase of pay hike will take place.
read more.

20140206

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Free the 23 and give workers a living minimum wage of USD$160 a month:

On the 24th of December 2013 an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 garment workers went on strike in Cambodia. Their main demand was a living minimum wage of $US160 per month. They were joined by a number of other unions and workers also demanding the same minimum wage.

Demonstrators have faced continuous heavy government repression for demanding this wage. This has included attacks by police, military police, plain clothes thugs, and private security who between them have used an assortment of weapons including tear gas, grenades, axe handles, sling shots, electric batons, AK-47 rifles, and metal poles.
By January 4th, 4 workers had been killed, 39 seriously injured, and 23 indefinitely detained in the remote and harsh CC3 prison. Of those arrested 20 of them were garment workers, and 3 were prominent human rights defenders – Theng Savoeun, Vorn Pao, and Chan Puthisak. Another 2 workers have since died from injuries sustained at these demonstrations.

After these crackdowns the government issued a decree essentially prohibiting any public demonstrations or protest. Some workers have lost their jobs for striking or been denied pay, unionists are being denied access to factories, and companies are suing unions for their loss of income and damage to the factories.

At this point is it extremely difficult for Cambodians to speak out. However hope still remains and many workers, unionists, Buddhist monks and human rights activists are working hard to release those wrongfully imprisoned and to continue to push for a living minimum wage. Despite the prohibition on protest, many people are still risking detainment and abuse from authorities to still protest for these demands.

It is of crucial importance that international community puts pressure on Cambodia from outside and give solidarity to those risking their lives to continue to organise and protest. We must be rallying both on and off line.
This movement has been one of the strongest in Cambodia in recent times, which is why the government has been so unapologetically repressive.

This is an important time to help contest the 30 year rule of Hun Sen, demand dignity and a living wage for all workers, and the right to organise to achieve this, including freedom from arbitrary and punitive detainment.
This petition is a small but meaningful step for Cambodian people. Please sign it and pass it along to friends, family, co-workers, and concerned organisations.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE & read more.
CLEC

* Strike threat remains as Cambodia wage dispute drags on:

Garment workers in Cambodia could defy a ban on demonstrations and strike again this month unless the government agrees to a further rise in the minimum wage.

Vice-president of the Cambodian Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (CCAWDU), Kong Athit, said his and other unions had not set a date, but would be willing to strike over their demand to lift the minimum wage from US$100 to $160 per month.

“If the government is not offering a fair solution … maybe we can come up with a general strike again,” Mr. Athit said. CCAWDU organises 26,000 garment workers in Cambodia.

At a forum on January 16, unions heads called on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to resume wage negotiations, with the President of the Coalition of Cambodian Unions (CCU), Rong Chhun, promising a “grand strike” if an agreement could not be reached.

A previous two-week strike that caused many factories to close ended after a bloody crackdown by police and paramilitary forces on January 3. According to rights group LICADHO, the clashes left at least four protestors dead and more than 40 injured.
read more.

___________

* Labor union leaders discuss protest plan:

Nine labor union leaders who rejected the minimum wage of USD100 per month, announced in January by the government, met today to discuss the minimum wage for garment and footwear workers and their protest plan.

Rong Chhun, President of Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said the meeting at Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) is to decide if the nine labor unions have to hold the second protest to demand better wage for workers.

The workers protested throughout the country to demand the minimum wage of USD160 per month, increasing from USD80 per month until bloody crackdowns in January, leaving at least five people dead, and some 40 injured.
Police also arrested 23 people, who are now being detained in prison in Kampong Cham province.
to read.

* Union leaders delay protest:

Labor union leaders who rejected USD 100 per month for workers decided to delay their protest plan, awaiting the government’s announcement over the wage increase for workers, and the court decision on 23 individuals arrested last month.

The suspension of the protest was made after the meeting attended by 11 labor union leaders at Community Legal Education Center (CLEC).

Ath Thon, president of the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said the meeting discussed the workers’ salary cut by factory employers during their protests.

He said the agreements in the meeting included:
1 — Asking government to release the 23 people arrested in recent crackdowns.
2 — Calling on the government and employers to resume wage talk over the demand of USD160 per month.
3 – Asking the government and factories to bring to justice the gunmen of victims killed, and injured during the violent clashes on Jan. 2-3.
4 – Asking the government and factories to drop complaints against the leaders of the labor unions, and lift its ban on public rallies in the capital and other places.
5 — Reinstating the workers, who have been fired.

The Garment and footwear workers will receive USD100 per month starting from this February, according to a decision made in January.
to read.

gov STOP 2

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Cheap labour and competitiveness:

For years now China has been the world’s manufacturing powerhouse, leveraging its cheap labour and much else to dominate global trade in general and developing country exports in particular.

But, of late, talk that China has reached the Lewis turning point, when it runs out of access to a cheap labour reserve at a near constant real wage has gained currency. This, it argued, could undermine its competitiveness in a range of products, making way for new suppliers exploiting the benefit of a cheap labour force.

According to A Deutsche Bank study quoted by the Financial Times: “Since China’s WTO accession in 2001, real wages paid in the manufacturing sector have risen by almost 200% in USD-terms, surpassing Thailand and closing the gap with the Philippines. Strikingly, Chinese wages continued to move ahead in 2009-11, even as regional peers felt the dampening impact of the global recession.”

Is this China story true? And if so would India be among the countries that benefit? International comparisons of unit labour costs are difficult to come by, but some numbers are available from a few sources.
This discussion is based on estimates made by the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) of the US government. Despite the difficulty involved in generating comparable numbers the BLS has (till recently) routinely put out figures on unit labour costs in different countries as part of its International Labour Comparison programme.
China and India were not part of the regular programme, but the BLS conducted special studies of labour compensation in these countries, being careful to underscore the dangers of comparing data that are different in terms of method, coverage and reliability across countries.
read more.

20140205

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* ‘Workplace inequality pervasive’:

Discussions about salaries on the factory floor led worker Channa, 22, to begin feeling jealous of her male counterparts.

She learned, through talking with a number of co-workers, that the men working around her were doing the same amount of work as she was, but being paid more.

“Most of the men I work with get a higher income than the women,” Channa told the Post yesterday from her factory in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district. “And men seem to easily get promoted ahead of women who have the same abilities. I don’t know the reason why, but it’s always been like that.”

Channa’s story is a common one.
According to a recent study by the Asian Development Bank, gender wage gaps of up to 40 per cent exist in Cambodia’s formal sectors – and equality remains a goal rather than an achievement.

Male legislators, officials and managers, for example, on average earn 29 per cent more than their female counterparts, while across all formal occupations, the gap is about 27 per cent, says Gender Equality in the Labor Market in Cambodia, a study produced in conjunction with the International Labour Organization.
read more.

* Union eyes morning wage meet:

The outcome of a government meeting this morning on the garment industry’s minimum wage will play a part in determining when nine unions will take to the streets for another mass strike, Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun said yesterday.

“We will strike as soon as possible and are now awaiting the result of this meeting,” Chhun said.
The CCU leader added that workers could strike again as soon as this week, and the nine unions will distribute 50,000 leaflets outlining their intentions and urging them to join.

“We demand the government release the 23 detainees [arrested on January 2], increase the minimum wage to $160 per month, urge officials to properly investigate the deadly shootings [on January 3] and some other points.”
Prime Minister Hun Sen assigned one of his deputies, Keat Chhon, to head a committee to examine the minimum wage today at the offices of the Council for the Development of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
to read.

* Unions Argue Over Wage Committee Reforms:

Meeting for a minimum wage workshop on Tuesday, the country’s independent and government-aligned unions argued over reforms to the Labor Advisory Committee (LAC), the body in charge of setting the minimum wage in the garment sector, which employs some 600,000 workers.

The LAC, which is composed of representatives of the government, factory owners, and unions, came under heavy criticism from independent unions in December when it rushed through a new minimum wage of $95, a $15 increase that fell far short of union demands for a $160 monthly wage, leading to nationwide strikes that paralyzed the garment industry and ultimately turned violent.

Morm Nhim, president of the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia, blamed the ineffectiveness of the LAC on the fact that some of the union representatives worked for the government.

“We have seen that the LAC is unjust when raising the minimum wage for the workers because Mr. Chuon Mom Thol is an adviser to the Ministry of Labor and Mr. Sam Aun is an official at the Council of Ministers, so their role would affect any working decision,” Ms. Nhim said.

Mr. Mom Thol is also president of the Cambodian Union Federation, while Mr. Aun is president of the Cambodian Labor Union Federation.
read more.

13:15:43 local time PAKISTAN

* Pakistan Textile garments and leather workers federation meeting:

On 2 February 2014 Pakistan Textile garments and leather workers federation held a meeting with textile, garments and powerlooms workers.

Issues:
* social security registration of workers
* registration of workers welfare grants
* non implementation of minimum wages

In this office meeting there were bearers and affiliated unions members, especially female garment workers participate.
Decided is that written complaints will be filed against those factories employers who have not implement minimum wages.

20140204

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Global day of action to free Cambodian garment workers:

Global unions are mobilizing workers around the world to protest at Cambodian embassies on Monday 10 February to demand the release of 23 activists seized during demonstrations in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in January.

IndustriALL Global Union, UNI Global Union and the ITUC are garnering international support in solidarity for protestors who were arrested during demonstrations by garment workers for higher wages last month. The call to action to “Free the 23” comes on the eve of a Cambodian court hearing for the workers on 11 February.

The detainees, which include trade union activists and garment workers, were incarcerated after peaceful rallies on 2 and 3 of January were met with brutal force by Cambodian police, which opened fire on demonstrators leaving four people dead and 39 injured.

Unions are being asked to demonstrate outside Cambodian embassies and present a letter to the ambassador condemning the violence against the garment workers and demanding the release of the 23 detainees. The letter also calls on the government to respect the right to freedom of association.
read more.
Email us for more information on how to join your nearest action:
press@industriall-union.org
Download this model letter to present to the Cambodian Ambassador.
Join the petition to support Cambodian garment workers: http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2129

* Cambodia: Garment Factories Thwarting Unions:

Government Should Enforce Rights of Workers to Unionize, Demonstrate

The Cambodian government should ensure that garment factories stop intimidating and threatening workers seeking to form unions and assert their labor rights, Human Rights Watch said today.

The government should cease banning public demonstrations and using security forces to disperse worker protests, and instead enforce the country’s labor laws.

Cambodian garment factories supplying international brands regularly use threats, firing, and non-renewal of temporary employment contracts to interfere with workers’ rights to establish and participate in independent unions, Human Rights Watch said. On January 17, 2014, international brands wrote a public letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen supporting workers’ rights to unionize, but they should do more to ensure their suppliers comply with the law and cease anti-union practices.

“The Cambodian government should ensure that garment factories stop deploying union-busting strategies and respect workers’ rights,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Global apparel brands need to make sure their suppliers allow workers to form independent unions without interference, and that union representatives can be in factories without threats and retaliation.”
read more.

* End the ‘union-busting’: HRW:

Garment workers gather near the Yakjin factory during a strike in Kambol village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in early January. Photo by Heng Chivoan.

As well as needing to lift a ban on public demonstrations and to release 23 detained activists and workers, the government must act to stop garment factories from discriminating against unions and those trying to join them, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

The NGO said that workers from 35 of 55 factories it surveyed last year reported discrimination against unions since 2012, as well as retaliatory action against their members.
“While many workers have joined unions, others said they wanted to set up or join independent unions but feared they would lose their jobs if they did so,” HRW said in a statement.
The results of the survey of about 200 garment workers come after a month of unrest that included security forces shooting dead four people on January 3 and declaring a ban on public gatherings.
read more.

* Human Rights Watch Says Anti-Union Activities Must End:

The government has been urged to put a stop to anti-union practices in garment factories after workers at a number of plants complained to a rights group that attempts to unionize were met with intimidation and dismissals.

In a statement released Monday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said it had found incidents of garment factories actively trying to suppress the establishment of independent unions, forcing staff to join pro-management unions and security forces unleashed on striking workers.

“Cambodian garment factories supplying international brands regularly use threats, firing, and non-renewal of temporary employment contracts to interfere with workers’ rights to establish and participate in independent unions,” Human Rights Watch said in the statement, adding that the government and factories should “do more to ensure their suppliers comply with the law and cease anti-union practices.”
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates:

1. 14 Companies (in Jakarta) got permit for postponement of 2014 minimum wage implementation. Read the full article here (Article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
Read the Google Translate English Version here.
2. 88 Companies in Banten postpone the implementation of 2014 Minimum Wage. Read the full article here
R ead the Google Translate English Version here.

4. Minister of Manpower and Transmigration request to speed up the Postponement of Minimum Wage Implementation.
Read the full article here(Article is in Bahasa Indonesia).
5. Increase in electric tariff to affect economic growth: Kurtubi.
Read the full article here.

BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates overview here.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* Govt requests global apparel buyers to raise prices:

Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Monday urged the global apparel buyers and retailers to raise the product prices in line with the recently enhanced wage for the garment workers with a view to sustainability of the sector.

‘The wage for garment workers has increased by 77 per cent. If the buyers do not raise the prices of apparel products, it will be difficult for the sector to survive,’ he told reporters after an exchange of views with the brands and retailers held in a city hotel.
The meeting on ‘Strengthening business environment in the RMG sector of Bangladesh’ was organised by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association where representatives of 40 buyers including Walmart, H&M, GAP and JC Penny took part.
Commerce, labour and foreign secretaries Mahbub Ahmed, Mikail Shipar and Shahidul Haque were present along with the representatives from the EU Accord, the North American Alliance and the ILO.
read more. & read more.

* Tofail urges global buyers to increase RMG prices as per workers’ wage hike:

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed Monday urged the global buyers and retailers to increase the prices of Bangladesh-made readymade garment (RMG) products in line with the recently enhanced wages for the garment workers to sustain the sector.

“The wage for garment workers has been increased by 77 per cent. If the buyers do not raise the apparel prices, it would be difficult for the sector to survive,” he told newsmen after a view exchange meeting with the brands and retailers at a city hotel.

Organized by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the meeting titled “Strengthening Business Environment in the RMG Sector of Bangladesh” was attended by over 40 buyers’ representatives.
read more.

* Garment orders coming back on track:

Retailers pledge to continue business with Bangladesh suppliers

Work orders are flowing in from international garment retailers as steady economic activities are being restored after several spells of political violence, industry insiders said yesterday.

“Retailers are now placing a lot of orders. The situation is good now. I urge the government to maintain this stable situation to get more orders,” Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told The Daily Star.
As a prerequisite to continued work orders, retailers demanded a stable political scene, at a meeting with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, leaders of BGMEA and other stakeholders at Westin Dhaka yesterday.
“Another reason for holding the meeting was to convey a message to retailers that Bangladesh is back in business after the political upheaval,” Islam added.
Buyers are regaining confidence after the general elections on January 5 and they have a long-term business plan in Bangladesh, an official of Inditex, a Spanish clothing retail giant, said asking not to be named. “We want a stable political situation.”
read more.

* Tofail urges buyers to raise apparel price:

He said it at at a meeting arranged by BGMEA where Representatives from more than 40 buyers attended

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has urged the buyers to increase prices of readymade garment products in line with the recent wage hike for the workers to help survive the industry.

“As the government has set the wage 77% higher, it would be really difficult for this sector to survive unless the buyers increase the prices of the apparel products,” he said, emerging from a meeting in Dhaka yesterday.

Representatives from more than 40 buyers attended the meeting titled “Strengthening Business Environment in the RMG sector of Bangladesh,” organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
read more.

20140131

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Wages of hosiery workers to go up by 4%:

The workers in the hosiery sector in Tirupur cluster will get a raise of 4 per cent in wages from Thursday.

The wage agreement was signed by the South India Hosiery Manufacturers Association with leading trade unions like INTUC, AITUC, CITU, LPF, and ATP in 2012.
The employers and the trade unions had agreed for a 32 per cent wage increase in instalments over a period of four years.
Accordingly, the one instalment of 4 per cent increase should take effect on January 30.

While welcoming the increase, the AITUC district president, M. Mohan, said that the hosiery units should give the different scales of increase to the basic pay for all workers in the departments of tailoring, cutting, ironing, labelling, damage checking, and packing in the units.
read more.

20140129-30

GLOBAL

* Reducing inequality will boost economic growth:

Here’s why raising minimum wages can be good for the economy.

By Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General

At first glance, it would seem this year’s Davos summit will be off to an auspicious start, with news that the global economy is recovering faster than anticipated.

Yet a closer look at the global situation reveals a potentially dangerous gap between profits and people.

Corporate profits are up and global equity markets are looking forward to another year of plenty, while at the same time unemployment and household incomes stand still.

The ILO’s Global Employment Trends 2014, which comes out this week, shows clearly that the modest economic recovery has not translated into an improvement in the labour market in most countries.

Businesses have been sitting on cash or buying back their own stocks, rather than investing in productive capacity and job creation. In part, this is a result of continued weakness in aggregate demand, both at national and global levels. It is compounded by uncertainty about where new sources of demand will come from and uncertainty about public policies, for example on financial sector reform.

The increased flow of profits and liquidity into asset markets rather than the real economy not only increases the risk of stock and housing price bubbles, but also damages long-term employment prospects.

In developing countries, informal employment remains widespread, and the pace of improvements in job quality is slowing down. That means fewer people are moving out of working poverty.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Right to strike ‘fundamental’:

Garment workers gather behind barbed wire on Russian Boulevard in Phnom Penh during a demonstration in December. Photo by Vireak Mai.

A labour law expert from the International Labour Organization yesterday rejected claims made by Cambodian factories and employers associations that workers in the Kingdom have no fundamental right to strike.

In a paid advertisement in the Post yesterday, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (CAMFEBA) used the ILO’s Convention 87 on freedom of association to claim unions have misled the public about recent strikes.

“The right to strike is not provided for in … C87 and was not intended to be,” GMAC’s notice says. “Is the right to strike therefore a fundamental right? NO. The right to strike is NOT a fundamental right.”

But Tim de Meyer, a senior international labour law specialist for the ILO in Bangkok, said the organisation has “always” considered the right to strike fundamental.

“The claims that the right to strike is not a fundamental right and that C. 87 does not establish a right to strike are not consistent with the position taken by the International Labour Organization and its tripartite constituency as a whole (i.e. governments, employers and workers) over a period of at least the last 60+ years,” he wrote in an email.
read more.

* Cambodian workers fight for a living wage:

IndustriALL Global Union supports the fight of Cambodian garment workers for a minimum living wage and demands the respect of freedom of association and the release of jailed unionists.

2014 had a violent start in Cambodia. Workers demonstrating for an increased minimum wage clashed with police; resulting in four deaths, three missing people, 23 jailed and hundreds of dismissed workers. Arrest warrants were issued for the trade union leaders supporting the strikes, including leaders of our own affiliates. Employers are suing unions for damages.

The situation in Cambodia is totally unacceptable and makes the country a priority for IndustriALL Global Union. We took quick action after the violence broke out in the country. Together with the ITUC and UNI Global Union, we conducted an international trade union mission to Phnom Penh in early January. The mission met with the unions, government and employer organization GMAC, demanding the release of jailed unionists, an investigation into the killings, and the continuation of talks on an increased minimum wage.

We launched an electronic solidarity campaign on LabourStart. So far almost 11,000 people have protested to the Cambodian government and GMAC.
read more.

* Life on $3 a Day: Garment Workers and Cambodia’s Struggle for Human Rights:

About a month ago, I stood outside Cambodia’s National Assembly with hundreds of Buddhist monks.

They chanted in Sanskrit and tossed lotus petals into a crowd of protesters, blessing them. Many of them had walked from rural villages to Phnom Penh over 10 days. They rallied at the palatial seat of the country’s parliament, to mark International Human Rights Day and hopefully draw the government’s attention to the rights Cambodia’s people have yet to fully grasp–rights related to labor, land and a fair legal system.
People passed out water bottles and wrapped towels around their heads to protect themselves from the harsh midday sun. Others held up signs (“WE ARE WOMEN WE ARE NOT SLAVES”) and loudspeakers buzzed, ready to call people to action. We were not supposed to be there; the government had prohibited marches. I searched the crowd, waiting for something to happen.
(…)
It’s a warm morning in early December, and Win is showing me what life in Phnom Penh on $80 a month looks like.

That’s the minimum wage for garment workers in Cambodia, and for Win, it means living in a tiny cement room that fits a wooden pallet about the size of a queen bed, a sink area for cooking and not much else. Most garment workers share these spaces, where four to six people live. Like Win, most of them begin working in the factories as teenagers, around age 15 or 16.
read more.

How long people, who work for you, have to suffer, because they do not get decent wages.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* MWB won’t include new post:

Garment workers’ wage structure

In a major shift, the Minimum Wage Board (MWB) for garment workers decided in a meeting Wednesday not to introduce any fresh post in the existing wage structure.

Rather, the Board would recommend incorporating a particular sentence in the gazette to help resolve the existing post-related problems, sources said.

On January 15, MWB asked both the factory owners and labour representatives to submit separate lists of posts for incorporation in the wage structure.

The labour ministry, earlier this month, asked the Board to sit again with the stakeholders and submit its recommendations in this regard.

The latest move came following the allegation that some posts were not incorporated in the new wage structure, announced in November, triggering a fresh problem in fixing wage hike for the RMG workers.
read more.

* BGMEA to press for apparel price raise to meet wage hike:

RMG factory owners meet buyers Feb 3

Enhancement of apparel prices in line with the newly-announced wage structure for garment workers and restoration of global buyers’ business confidence would dominate the next meeting of the apparel makers with the buyers’ representatives, sources said Tuesday.

The leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will sit with the representatives of the global buyers on February 3 next. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed is expected to attend the meeting as chief guest.

The BGMEA leaders also requested the minister to urge the buyers to help the readymade garment (RMG) sector implement the enhanced wage and extend support in ensuring safety compliance issues.

“The sector is passing through a tough time for various reasons which are seriously affecting the business,” Md Shahidullah Azim, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told the FE Tuesday.
read more. & read more.

* Body agrees on guideline for sweater factory workers:

Sweater factory owners and labour leaders agreed on framing a guideline for workers to resolve the prevailing dispute over payment, grades of workers and other related benefits, sources said Tuesday.

The consensus came in the first meeting of the 12-member committee formed following the recent agitation of workers over the issues.
Representatives of the government, the sweater factory owners and the labour leaders were present in the meeting held in the city.

Earlier this month the ministry of labour formed the committee, as the sweater factory workers agitated demanding an increase in the piece rate in line with the new wage structure announced for garment workers. The sweater factory workers were outside the purview of the wage structure.

Mr Faizur Rahman, joint secretary of the labour ministry and also head of the committee, said during the meeting they heard from both the groups.
“We have formed a working group that will visit some sweater factories and talk to the workers and factory authorities to gather details of the problematic issues,” he told the FE.
read more.

* Guidelines for sweater factory workers in offing:

The government is going to formulate a set of guidelines for the sweater factory workers to resolve the prevailing disputes over payment in piece-rate basis.

At the first meeting of a labour ministry sub-committee to identify the wage-related problems of sweater factory workers on Tuesday, the representatives of factory owners and workers agreed to formulate the guidelines over the payment of piece-rate.
Md Faizur Rahman, joint secretary (labour), told New Age that the labour leaders and factory owners have discussed the prevailing situation of sweater factory workers and agreed at one point that a set of comprehensive guidelines is needed to bring discipline in the sector.
Faizur, also the head of the sub-committee, said that they have formed a working committee headed by the chief inspector of factories and establishment to visit factories and to talk with workers to dig out the real scenario of sweater factory workers.
read more.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* NTC wage talks postponed:

With no agreement reached here on Tuesday for a wage settlement for the workers of National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills in the State, talks have been postponed. Workers of the seven NTC mills in the State are on strike since January 21 demanding revision of wages.

K.G. Jagannathan, secretary of Coimbatore District Textile Mill Workers’ Union (AITUC), said that the trade unions sought on Tuesday the same benefits that the workers of co-operative mills in the State receive.

The three-year wage agreement expired in December 2012. About 4,500 workers are employed in the seven mills. The NTC management held talks with some trade unions last month and agreed for Rs. 1,650 increase in monthly wages and payment of arrears for 12 months. However, the amount was not disbursed till Pongal and hence the workers went on strike. Officials of the Labour Department have been holding talks with representatives of the trade unions and the management. “We are waiting for details on when the next round of talks will be held,” he said. “We had modified the demand hoping to arrive at an agreement soon,” he said.
to read.

20140128

GLOBAL

* Living Wage Engineering – new FWF Report :

FWF has published the Living Wage Engineering report. FWF director Erica van Doorn handed out the first copy to Mark Held of the European Outdoor Group.

At FWF, we see that in general, stable business relationships between garment brands and factories contribute to better labour conditions. This is especially true for the ‘Living Wage’ standard. In partnership with the European Outdoor Group, this report explores ways in which these stable business relationships can provide a context for what we propose to call ‘Living Wage Engineering’.

Most of us think of the garment industry in terms of what is often called ‘fast fashion’ and the business practices that accompany it, including: (sub)seasonal collections driven by everchanging trends, short lead times, long supplier lists, limited supplier leverage, non-committal buyer-supplier relationships, and severe price competition.
read more. & download the report here.

* Reducing inequality will boost economic growth:

Here’s why raising minimum wages can be good for the economy.

By Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General

At first glance, it would seem this year’s Davos summit will be off to an auspicious start, with news that the global economy is recovering faster than anticipated.

Yet a closer look at the global situation reveals a potentially dangerous gap between profits and people.

Corporate profits are up and global equity markets are looking forward to another year of plenty, while at the same time unemployment and household incomes stand still.

In developing countries, informal employment remains widespread, and the pace of improvements in job quality is slowing down. That means fewer people are moving out of working poverty.
read more.

16:15:43 local time CHINA

* Income disparity continues to rise in China:

Despite the central government’s attempts to tackle the alarming gap between the rich and the poor in China, the latest job data shows that wages in the two highest paid sectors, finance and high-technology, were growing at a faster rate than those in already poorly paid manufacturing and service industries.

A survey conducted by the human resources company, 51job.com, showed that salaries in the financial sector increased by 10.4 percent in 2013 and that wages were expected to increase even more this year because qualified staff were still in short supply. Salaries in high-tech industries increased by 9.9 percent last year, while those in bio-pharmaceuticals went up by 9.2 percent, the survey found.

Meanwhile, businesses in manufacturing and services continued to lose employees at a faster rate than higher-paying sectors. Manufacturing and services recorded the highest attrition rates of all industries, reaching 19.1 percent and 19.4 percent respectively.
read more.

* 8.8% salary hikes expected for 2014:

Salary increases are expected to hit 8.8 percent in 2014, a slight rise on the 8.6 percent for 2013, according to a survey issued by 51job.com, a human resources service provider.

More than 3,400 enterprises and 4,600 employees were interviewed in the survey from September to November 2013, covering sectors including real estate, high-tech, consumer products and manufacturing.
It found that the highest salary increases occurred in the financial sector, reaching 10.4 percent, followed by real estate (10.1 percent), high tech (9.9 percent) and bio-pharmaceuticals (9.2 percent).
Feng Lijuan, chief consultant at 51job.com said that “the salary increase reflects that the demand for expertise in these industries is great, but suitable and qualified people are in short supply, so the competition in these industries is fierce”.
read more.

16:15:43 local time PHILIPPINES

* TUCP proposing low-cost dorms for minimum wage earners:

A labor group is eyeing idle government lands for the construction of low-cost dormitories for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila and other urban areas.

In an interview, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said these will be included in their demands during the upcoming Labor Day this May.
Their other demands include lowering local power rate, passage of the security of tenure bill, and the consultation of workers in the rehabilitation efforts in the areas ravaged by typhoon “Yolanda.”
Tanjusay said the dorms will help employees, particularly those who live far from their work places, to save income by cutting down on travel expenses.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Union reps fired after strike:

Garment workers fill balconies and Veng Sreng Boulevard in Phnom Penh during a strike calling for an increase to their minimum wage earlier this month.
Photo by Pha Lina.

Despite Cambodia’s labour law forbidding employers from taking action against workers for engaging in union activity, more than 100 labour union representatives have been fired from at least 12 factories this month for encouraging workers to strike for a $160 monthly minimum wage.

The firings came shortly after the mass strike over wages waned in the wake of authorities shooting dead at least four people on January 3 and a subsequent government ban on public demonstrations.
“I can’t see why any of these terminations would be legal,” said Joel Preston, a consultant for the Community Legal Education Center.

Factories that fired employees supply to brands including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Armani, among others, he said.
Cambodian Alliance Trade Unions (CATU) president Yang Sophorn yesterday said 50 CATU union representatives have been fired from the Manhattan Textile and Garment factory in Kampong Cham since early January.
“The reason that factories fired them was because they joined in the strike, but some factories claimed their contracts were finished, even though they were not,” Sophorn said yesterday.
read more.

* Poipet to see new economic zone:

Japanese investors will put $56 million into a joint venture with local company Sanco Investment Group (SIG) to build a new special economic zone in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town, officials said yesterday.

Chhour Vichet, executive director of SIG, said Thailand’s labour shortage, Cambodia’s ongoing political unrest and the markedly higher minimum wage, which doubled to $9.77 per day in December 2012, all make the Kingdom a well-situated investment alternative.

As the Post reported at the time of the wage increase, Thailand’s leading garment manufacturer, TK Garment Co Ltd, shifted operations to Cambodia in response to the decision.
read more.

* BetterFactories Media updates 18-28 January 2014, Brands call for trade union law:

* To read in the printed edition of the Phnom Penh Post:

2014-01-20 Brands call for trade union law

2014-01-23 Minimum wage up for discussion
2014-01-24 Chantol on reform, wages, politics

2014-01-24 Workers strike again to demand strike pay

2014-01-28 Poipet to see new economic zone
2014-01-28 Union reps fired after strike

* To read in the printed edition of the Cambodia Daily:
2014-01-20 International brands seek probe into protest killings

2014-01-21 Union leader released, Free the 23 protest to continue
2014-01-22 Court hears request to reinvestigate slaying of FTU leader

2014-01-23 After arrest, NGOs continue petitioning to free the 23

2014-01-23 NGOs continue to march to embassies to free the 23
2014-01-23 Pro-government unions call for action against leaders of strikes
2014-01-23 Unions to proceed with mass rally in freedom park despite ban

BetterFactories Media updates overview here.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* NTC workers observe fast:

Workers of National Textile Corporation mills observing a fast pressing for wage revision in Coimbatore on Monday.— Photo: K. Ananthan

The National Textile Corporation (NTC) workers’ strike at the seven textile mills in the State, demanding revision of wages, entered the seventh day and some of the workers observed a fast here on Monday seeking an early solution to the wage settlement problem.

The three-year wage agreement for the workers expired in December 2012. The management held talks with some of the trade unions and reached an agreement last month for Rs. 1,650 increase in monthly wages for each worker.

The Unions are seeking payment of arrears for 12 months (from January 2013). Since the amount was not disbursed till Pongal, the workers went on strike from January 21, according to trade union sources here.

The AITUC, MLF, HMS, BMS and ATP called for a fast here on Monday. They said since it might take time to arrive at an agreement, interim relief should be paid for four months.
read more.

20140127

15:15:43 local time THAILAND

* Reeling from the Wage Hike:

Government-mandated increase has led to lay-offs amid a labour shortage and even lower earnings.

It was just another morning when Somporn, a 40-year-old worker in a ceramics plant, awoke to find she had lost the job she had held for several years.

In fact, she’d anticipated this day would come, as the plant had downsized operations in response to the 300-baht daily wage. The factory agreed to pay a small compensation to laid-off workers.
Mrs Somporn is among the large number of workers laid off by companies that can no longer shoulder higher labour costs after the Pheu Thai-led government raised daily wage to 300 baht nationwide on Jan 1, 2013.
The government implemented this populist policy in order to narrow the income gap as well as to draw grass-roots votes.

However, 21 months after its implementation, has the wage hike improved the lives of those on the lower rungs of society?
“The policy hasn’t really helped ease the lives of workers as a large number of them have been laid off as many factories struggle to survive amid a sharp rise in production costs driven by the hike in daily wages,” said Wilaiwan Sae Tia, vice-president of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee.
read more.

14:45:43 local time BURMA/MYANMAR

* Minimum wage move takes a big step forward:

A proposal for a minimum national wage dominated a meeting that brought together a government agency, workers’ representatives and the International Labor Organization in Naypyitaw recently.

The January 16 meeting to negotiate a minimum wage also discussed proposals for variations in a minimum wage according to industrial sector and geographic region.
As well as the government’s Minimum Wage Board, the independent workers’ groups, and the ILO, the negotiations were also attended by experts on the issue.

They included Andrea Smurra, a technical adviser to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, said he was impressed by the commitment of the participants to setting a minimum wage.
However, Mr Smurra said that rushing a minimum wages policy in Myanmar’s economic climate could create risks in the future, particularlyby limiting the bargaining power of trade unions and affecting the ability of companies to pay if minimum rates were set too high.
read more.

* Parliament to discuss minimum wage issue in June:

Myanmar’s members of parliament will discuss an important issue for the country’s employees in June, as a proposal to establish an official minimum wage comes up for review, says a national committee working on the issue.

Researchers are conducting an extensive survey across the country, with canvassing on the issue in Yangon, Mandalay and Bago reportedly complete.

“The labour minister asked us to complete a proposal to submit to parliament in June for setting the minimum wage. Many negotiations are required between local workers and employers before the proposal is submitted to parliament, as problems could come up as a result,” said Naw Aung, a worker representative on the committee.
read more.

How long people, who work for you, have to suffer, because they do not get decent wages.

20140125-26

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Two arrested, many injured as clash breaks out at Freedom Park:

Two men were arrested and many people from both sides were reportedly injured after the police clashed with protesters at the Freedom Park on Sunday morning, according to a reporter of The Cambodia Herald.

The clash broke out after the protesters led by nine labor union leaders gathered near the Freedom Park to demand wage increase to $160 per month for workers and release of 23 people arrested in bloody crackdowns earlier this month, the reporter said.
The Cambodia Herald reporter, who is at the scene, said a protester seriously wounded while many others from both side were lightly injured.
read more.

* More violence at Freedom Park:

Security forces beat protesters with truncheons and stunned them with electric cattle prods as more violent clashes broke out in Phnom Penh this morning between authorities and protesters trying to gather in Freedom Park.

One of a number of clashes in and around Freedom Park was sparked by a protester kicking a helmeted security guard in the groin near Naga bridge, prompting authorities – which included municipal security guards and military police – to charge at a group of protesters and beat them with truncheons.
read more. & read more.

* Cambodian police again clash with anti-government protesters:

Protesters clash with security guards as they attempt to break through to Freedom Park in central Phnom Penh. Photo: Reuters

Baton-wielding Cambodian police clashed today with protesters — including Buddhist monks — demanding higher wages for garment workers and the release of 23 people arrested during a recent bloody crackdown on a rally.

About two hundred textile workers, union members, land protesters and several monks attempting to rally at a Phnom Penh park were met by scores of riot police, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
A brief clash broke out when some of the protesters tried to make it through police lines into Democracy Park, prompting security forces to use batons against them.
Protesters then responded by throwing rocks, water bottles and sticks.
At least 10 people from both sides were injured during the violence, according to activist Am Sam Ath of local rights group Licadho.
read more. & read more.

* Cambodia blocks garment workers’ protest:

Demonstrations and labour activists demand release of workers arrested during previous protests

A heavy police presence in Cambodia appears to have halted a planned rally against the mistreatment of garment workers.

There were supposed to be demonstrations demanding the release of 23 people arrested during previous protests.
But the government is also under pressure to improve the situation of garment workers, with dozens of global brands and unions calling for a resolution to the situation.
read & see more. (video report).

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* 20% RMG workers to lose job:

After the fire at Tazreen Fashion, ill fate did not leave the readymade garment workers. Around 20 percent workers are likely to be lost their jobs this year too.

According to Bangladesh Garment Manufactures & Exporters Association (BGMEA), the production of around 400 small and medium factories is likely to be stopped in current year if they fail to pay minimum wage. So, 10 percent workers will lose their job.

On the other hand, big factories are going to install modern technology to increase productivity declining cost of production.
And most of the primary work would be done through the machine.
So, preliminary stage workers lose jobs due to lack of the requirements. As a result, more 10 percent workers will lose job for the introduction of new technology.

As per the calculation, around eight lakhs workers (total 20 percent) are going to lose their jobs, said BGMEA source.
read more.

* Labour protests in Savar:

Workers of Fa Apparels Ltd at Hemayetpur in Savar yesterday took to the streets to protest the shutdown of the factory and non-payment of arrears.

The factory management paid a few workers before the factory’s closure last Wednesday but many are yet to get December salaries, said Sumon Talukder a worker of the factory.
The workers gathered at the factory gate early in the morning and they set off to barricade the Dhaka-Aricha highway. The workers’ attempt was foiled by the police.
Shahid Ullah, senior assistant director of Ashulia industrial police, said the workers and the factory management are now discussing the issue.
to read.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* NTC wage talks to continue today:

Wage talks for about 4,500 workers (permanent and non-permanent) in the National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills in the State was held here on Saturday and, since an agreement was not reached, the talks will continue on Sunday.

Majority of the workers in the seven mills of NTC are on strike since January 23 demanding higher wages.

Agreement
The three-year wage agreement for the workers expired on December 31, 2012. Since then, the unions have submitted representations to the management. Trade union sources told The Hindu that some of the unions reached an agreement with the management last month for Rs. 1,650 increase in monthly wages for each worker and payment of arrears from January 2013. However, the payments were not made till Pongal.
Hence, the workers went on strike.
Labour department officials held talks here on Saturday with representatives of the management and trade unions.
to read.

20140124

GLOBAL

* Wages – How the Workers See It:

This interview with a young Pakistani worker is indicative of the state of play across the garment industry:

Wages are so low and the cost of living so high, she finds it very hard to make ends meet. At 18, she is the only earning member of her family of three. She is an only child and both her parents are jobless.

She spends almost 40% of her income on the rent of a one bedroom house. When told that companies check that workers should get at least the minimum wage set by the government, which they all do, she said:

“If they think this is enough , they should all try to live on this amount for a month and then decide if it is OK.”

Employment in the garment industry offers hope for people like this young Pakistani woman, in areas where work is scarce. In many countries those who can get jobs in factories like hers are considered lucky, and young girls leave their families in rural areas to travel hundreds of miles in search of them. Yet the reality when they arrive is tough. A Thai woman gives a similar example:

“We work until 2 or 3am during the peak season. We always have to work a double shift. Although we are very exhausted, we have no choice. We cannot refuse overtime work, because our standard wages are so low.”
read more.
labour behind the label

* Wages – What Should Fashion Brands Do?:

Most companies seem to think that ensuring payment of a minimum wage is sufficient to have discharged their responsibilities, or at least an adequate stop-gap measure. But a stop-gap for what? There is little cause for workers to be optimistic on the basis of our survey.

Brands and retailers at the top of the supply chain aren’t passive entities floating on a sea of global trade. When they work together, they control the industry. They don’t have to relocate to chase the cheapest labour. They could take responsibility for their actions, commit to paying a living wage, and absorb the small increase in costs this might create.

Whether a living wage is defined by a formula or by collective bargaining, it requires that companies address the root problems of the conflicting messages they send to factory managements, and the way they purchase. This means finding solutions that work on a country-wide, supply chain-wide and ultimately industry-wide level. Companies deserve credit for working actively to find industry-wide solutions to the difficulty, but not simply for signing up and then doing nothing.
This means that buyers need to:

Develop strategies to improve wages, above and beyond minimum wages, in their supplier base.
read more.

* Labor Wants Its Say at Davos:

Philip Jennings, a union leader from working-class Wales, has been coming to this Alpine ski resort for two decades to rub shoulders with the bosses of the world. His message has not changed.

“The world needs a pay rise,” Mr. Jennings said on a Davos panel last year. Some executives in the room rolled their eyes, others smiled politely. Did he want to go back to the 1970s, one journalist inquired. Did he understand basic economics? Mr. Jennings, who has a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, is general secretary of UNI Global Union, which represents 20 million service workers in 150 countries. This year, as he again carries labor’s message to Davos, he arrives with some rhetorical wind at his back.
(…)

The balance has been getting increasingly skewed. Real wages have stagnated or declined in recent years in most rich industrialized countries, even where productivity has grown. The chief executives who assembled at the first Davos meeting in 1971 would have earned an average of about 20 times what a typical employee made, according to data from the time. C.E.O.s today now make several hundred times more than their average worker.
(…)

But unions, a powerful force in improving wages and social welfare programs in the West in the 20th century, are struggling in the 21st. Their members now compete with cheap labor in emerging economies and with ever smarter, faster and cheaper machines. With the exception of the Nordic countries, union membership in most rich industrialized nations has plummeted, to 17 percent across the member countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Workers strike again to demand strike pay:

About 2,000 workers at Takeo province’s I-Cheng (Cambodia) Cooperation remain on strike today, after management held steady in its refusal to pay employees for days they joined in a national garment worker strike in December and this month.

Sok Chea, Collective Union of Movement of Workers president at I-Cheng, yesterday said negotiations with the factory and the provincial labour department had broken down.
The workers have protested since Tuesday to demand bosses pay their wages for during the previous strike and the current strike, Chea said.
to read.

* Unions to Proceed With Mass Rally in Freedom Park Despite Ban:

Unions planning a mass rally at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Sunday to call for the release of 23 detainees and a higher minimum wage in the garment industry say they will proceed with the event despite City Hall’s decision Thursday to deny permission.

The nine unions, some of them representing the country’s 600,000 garment workers, want a higher minimum wage for the industry and the release of 23 men arrested earlier this month while protesting outside Phnom Penh factories.

The unions had asked the city for permission to stage a rally of 10,000 people despite a ban on public protests the Interior Ministry imposed in Phnom Penh on January 4.
read more.

* Legal actions to be taken against protest leaders: Interior Ministry:

Ministry of Interior warned that legal measures would be taken against those who would hold protests, defying a ban imposed by the government.

The warning was made yesterday after the leaders of nine labor unions insisted that they would hold protests, which are scheduled for January 26, to demand the wage increase from USD80 to USD160 and the release of 23 protesters who were arrested in the bloody crackdowns earlier this month.

Yang Sophorn, President of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, said that the nine union leaders maintain their stance to hold the protest as scheduled.
Khieu Sopheak, Spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the authority didn’t allow them to hold the protest because the situations haven’t returned to normalcy.
“If they insisted to hold the protests on Jan. 26, the police will take action,” he added.
to read.

* NGOs Continue to March to ‘Free the 23′:

On their third day of petitioning for the release of 23 activists and striking workers who were imprisoned earlier this month following minimum wage demonstrations, a group of civil society representatives marched to seven embassies in Phnom Penh on Thursday.

Thursday’s march began with about 40 participants and grew to include about 100 civil society representatives.
“We advised people not to use insulting words, or words that affect people’s feelings,” said Nay Vanda, Adhoc’s deputy head of human rights monitoring, who has helped organize the petition drive.
“We just used words calling for the release of the detainees,” he said.
read more.

* More solidarity for Cambodian workers:

The violence against garment workers in Cambodia has met with outrage all over the world. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has requested an investigation into the events, and that the perpetrators be held accountable.

Unions in Thailand and Korea have showed solidarity and staged demonstrations outside the Cambodian embassies.

The violent end to the demonstrations in Cambodia in January this year resulted in four deaths, three missing people, 23 jailed and hundreds of dismissed workers. Trade union leaders have been warned that if they go on strike, their union registration will be suspended or cancelled. More than 100 court cases have been filed by employers against union leaders for inciting violence and damage of property, and six trade union leaders have pending arrest warrants.

IndustriALL Global Union and the ITUC quickly sent a mission to Phnom Penh to talk to the government and garment employers. Soon after, 30 global clothing brands joined IndustriALL, UNI and the ITUC in a strongly-worded letter to the government, demanding that workers’ rights be respected and negotiations on minimum wage re-launched.
read more.

* Unions take big picture view:

A garment factory worker holds a placard during a protest to demand a higher minimum wage in Phnom Penh in December. POST STAFF

Union leaders yesterday said that despite having held strikes calling for a doubling of the minimum wage that were supported and encouraged by the country’s opposition party, they did not feel betrayed that the wage hike was taking a backseat in political negotiations.

Following a government announcement on December 24 that lifted the minimum wage from $80 to $95, a number of unions called a general strike asking for $160 that was immediately backed by the opposition, which quickly began urging workers to join their rallies.
read more.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* No review of minimum wage:

Putrajaya will not review the minimum wage as it was only just fully implemented this month.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem said the minimum wage of RM900 for workers in the peninsula and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak had just been implemented, The Malaysian Insider reported.
“It is too early for us to review the minimum wage policy as we must also consider the interests of employers as well,” he said today.
“It is unfair for employers to have to pay more for the same amount of productivity from their workers,” he added.
read more. & read more.

* Study On Minimum Wage System To Be Done By Mid Year:

A study on proposed improvements to the minimum wage system will only be done by the middle of the year.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Richard Riot Jaem said it is too early to talk about it since the new system was only fully implemented on January 1.
“We only know the effects at least six months after implementation and will do a mid-term review either in June or July.

“Only then, we will study proposals submitted by various parties to improve the weaknesses,” he told reporters after witnessing the Corporate Integrity Pledge (CIP) signing between Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), here Thursday.
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* Labor Minister Decries Low Wages:

As if a current account deficit, a weakening rupiah and rising inflation weren’t enough, speakers at a forum being held at the Jakarta Convention Center have highlighted a poorly trained workforce and labor unrest as factors acting as a brake on growth.

“Low monthly income is a sensitive issue,” said Muhaimin Iskandar, the manpower minister, said at the Indonesia Investor Forum on Wednesday.
Low salaries have frequently sparked street protests in cities across the country, and there were calls at the forum to see the minimum salary increased to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Muhaimin said the average national minimum wage of Rp 1.5 million ($123) per month was not adequate to cover the monthly living costs of many workers, and supported an increase.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* Bangladesh garment factories failing to pay minimum wage:

Nearly 40 percent of garment factories in the Bangladesh capital were failing to pay a new minimum wage announced last year for workers stitching clothes for Western retailers, an industry head said Thursday.

Bangladesh’s government agreed last November to raise the minimum monthly wage for the country’s four million garment workers to $68, an increase of 77 percent, after protests and strikes in the crisis-hit industry.
But almost 40 percent of factories surveyed in and around Dhaka were still not paying the new amount, while the figures were much higher for the port city of Chittagong, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said.
The association surveyed the $20 billion industry, the world’s second largest and a mainstay of the Bangladesh economy, to determine which of the 4,500 factories were paying the new legally required wage.
“We have done a survey on 594 factories situated in Dhaka and its outskirts. Of them 62 percent paid their workers under the newly hiked wages,” association vice-president Shahidillah Azim said.
read more.

* 38% of RMG factories yet to implement new wages:

About 38 per cent of the surveyed apparel manufacturing factories in Dhaka are yet to implement the new minimum wages for the garment workers, according to BGMEA.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) conducted a survey on 594 apparel manufacturing units in Dhaka and its surrounding areas which revealed that 62 per cent of the surveyed factories had paid wages in line with the newly announced wage structure.

The implementation of the new minimum wage in the factories located in the port city-Chittagong-is very low, according to the BGMEA and the estimated rate is only 5.0 per cent.

On the other hand, labour leaders claimed that about 50 per cent of the factories located in Dhaka are yet to implement the recently announced new wage structure for garment workers while Industrial Police sources said the rate is about 20 per cent in different industrial zones.

Labour leaders alleged that the implementation rate is very poor in the factories located in the metropolitan city especially at Mirpur.
read more.

* No new wage in 38pc of Dhaka factories:

At least 38 per cent of apparel factories in Dhaka and almost all in Chittagong are yet to implement the new wage for workers although manufacturers agreed to implement the wage in December, government officials and labour leaders said.

The failure of the factories to implement the new wage structure has also given rise to fears for labour unrest in industrial areas that are home to apparel factories, the industrial police said.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association conducted a survey on 594 factories in the capital Dhaka and found that 62 per cent of them have implemented the new wage structure that was announced on December 5, 2013.
‘We have found through the survey that 38 per cent of the factories have failed to implement the new minimum wage in Dhaka but the number is higher in Chittagong,’ Shahidullah Azim, a BGMEA vice-president, told New Age on Thursday.
read more.

* 40% garment units fail to pay new wage:

Nearly 40 percent of the garment factories in Dhaka and its adjacent areas could not implement the new wage structure from December 1 last year as agreed, a BGMEA survey found.

“It will take another two to three months for full implementation of the wage structure as the garment sector is passing through testing times,” said Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The survey conducted between January 10-22 covered 596 factories in Dhaka and its adjacent areas and 350 in Chittagong.
Only 5 percent of the factories in Chittagong have implemented the new salary for garment workers so far.
The reason for the low implementation in port city, Azim says, is that most of the factories there are vulnerable ones. “The factories in Chittagong are not as capable as the ones in Dhaka.”
read more.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Mill workers to continue strike:

Workers of National Textile Corporation (NTC) mills have decided to continue their strike after talks with labour officials here failed on Thursday. Representatives of trade unions, which included Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF), were involved in the talks for wage revision.

“It has been nearly 13 months since the last revision was made. We have been waiting for a long time for the general wage revision,” said C. Padmanabhan of the CITU.
About 5,000 workers have been on strike.
to read.

20140123

GLOBAL

* The Right to a Living Wage:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, necessary social services, and the right to security…”

– United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 25.1

The majority of workers in the global fashion industry, which is worth over £36 billion a year in the UK alone, rarely earn more than two dollars a day.
Many have to work excessive hours for this meagre amount and struggle to properly feed, clothe and educate their families.
In many cases, garment workers earn less that the national poverty levels set by governments and international organisations. This situation is further antagonised when prices paid to suppliers are cut by brands and retailers.

When challenged by on the wage issue, most companies claim that workers in their supply chains should be paid the minimum wage or the industry standard in that country, whichever is the higher.
But this isn’t enough.
Minimum wages, usually defined by governments, are set in the context of ferocious competition and consequently often fall well below these governments’ own poverty thresholds.
Furthermore, a minimum wage is often well below what is required for a living wage and research indicates that many suppliers do not even pay this legal minimum.
read more.

* Davos 2014: Unions call for leaders to reshape the world economy with jobs and decent wages:

Working people and their families need an urgent shift in policies by leaders to investment in jobs, a minimum wage on which people can live and social protection.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Poll of 13 countries found 87 percent of people say their wages are falling behind the cost of living or stagnant. One out of eight respondents said they are struggling financially and can no longer pay for basic living expenses. According to the ITUC, financial forecasts point to stagnation – not recovery – with nearly 200 million people unemployed.

“In a stagnant global economy, it is investment that will kick start jobs and demand. We cannot assume that growth alone will create jobs. The global economy cannot recover on export-led growth if wages don’t rise. There must be an expansion of demand – particularly from working households,” warned Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.
read more. & read more.

* When the rich fix the rules, the poor lose:

The global trend of worsening inequality will only be reversed if we can prevent economic elites from hijacking government policy

Almost half of the world’s wealth is owned by the richest one per cent. The wealthiest one per cent have amassed $110 trillion (Bt3.3 quadrillion), which is 65 times the total wealth of the poorest half of the globe’s population.

These figures were published in an Oxfam report, “Working for the Few: Political Capture and Economic Inequality”, released on Monday ahead of the World Economic Forum being held in Davos, Switzerland.

The international charity revealed that half of the planet’s population – about 3.5 billion people -possess less wealth collectively than the 85 richest people in the world, who boast a combined worth of $1.7 trillion.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Minimum wage up for ministerial discussion:

An interministerial committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon will meet next month to discuss the recent minimum wage increase and subsequent fallout. Ministry of Labour spokesman Heng Sour yesterday told the Post that Prime Minister Hun Sen assigned Chhon to lead the meeting on minimum wage reform.

“Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon was assigned to be the head of a committee to research the minimum wage, and will lead the discussion at a meeting February 5,” Sour said in an interview yesterday.

In addition to members of the Ministry of Labour, attendees next month will also include representatives of the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Social Affairs and others, Sour said.

The meeting will take place just over a month after four people were killed supporting a garment worker strike, where workers demanded a minimum wage increase to $160 per month.
An official letter notifying officials of the meeting has not yet been sent, Sour said.
read more.

* Cambodia’s 64 trade unions urge gov’t to take legal action against gangster unions:

Cambodia’s 64 trade unions on Wednesday asked the Minister of Labor Ith Samheng to take serious legal action against some gangster unions that have caused riots and illegal strikes as well as intimidations to their members in protests, according to a joint letter.

“We’d like to suggest the Minister of Labor to take serious legal action against union leaders and someone who have incited and committed violence on workers and innocent people during violent demonstrations in order to enforce the effective implementation of the law,” said the letter signed by the leaders of the 64 unions, which represent about 400,000 garment workers.

Som Aun, president of the Cambodian Council of National Union ( CCNU), said that the letter was sent to the Minister of Labor on Wednesday.
“We have got bad experience since Dec. 24 when some trade unions staged protests and their demonstrators went around and destroyed factories’ properties in order to force the workers out to join the demonstrations,” he said.
“Our request to the Minister is to protect security and safety for the factories and the workers in case of any illegal strikes in the future.”
read more.

* 64 labor unions oppose protest planned for Jan 26:

64 labor unions opposed a bid of eight other unions to hold protest on January 26 to demand wage increase to USD 160, calling on authority to take legal action against those union leaders.

In their joint letter to the Ith Sam Heng, the Minister of Labor and Vocational Training, the union leaders asked authority to take strong action in order to implement procedures of protests to maintain public and security order.

“We supported and called on government to speed up creation of committee to examine the minimum wage for garment and footwear factory workers,” said the labor unions in their letter issued Wednesday.

They also asked government to prevent the costs of rent, water, electricity and transportation from being inflated for workers.
read more.

* Pro-Government Unions Call for Action Against Leaders of Strikes:

Unions aligned with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government issued a statement Wednesday calling on it to “take action” against union leaders who they accuse of inciting workers to hold strikes and violent demonstrations.

“We would like to request [CPP Labor Minister] Ith Sam Heng to take action against some union leaders and their activists who have incited workers and threatened innocent people with violence during the strikes and demonstrations,” the pro-ruling party unions said in a statement.

“The ministry should take those people to condemn them in accordance with the law,” states the letter, signed by Som Aun, Chhum Socheat and Chuom Mom Thol, presidents of CPP-aligned union confederations.

The same unions issued a statement earlier this month, in the midst of nationwide labor strikes for a higher minimum wage, congratulating the government for its hard work in raising the minimum wage from $80 to $95, which was well below the $160 monthly wage demanded by six nongovernment aligned garment worker unions.

Mr. Mom Thol said Wednesday he was simply endorsing calls by the Labor Minister for unions to stop violating the law through illegal strikes.
“My members are not happy with the incitement to strike because factory managers cut their salary during the protest,” he said.
read more.

* After Arrests, NGOs Continue Petitioning to ‘Free the 23′ :

Following the arrest of 11 activists on Tuesday as they attempted to deliver a petition to the U.S. and French embassies seeking the release of 23 jailed protesters, NGO representatives quietly delivered similar petitions to the Japanese Embassy and European Union headquarters Wednesday.

The petitioners, representing 181 NGOs and civil society groups, are scheduled to march to the German, South Korean, Australian and Thai embassies this morning to call for pressure on the government to release the 23 protesters, who were imprisoned following clashes with police on January 2 and 3.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court this week denied bail for the 23 accused, citing the need to question them and maintain public order by keeping them incarcerated in a high-security prison located next to the border with Vietnam in Kompong Cham province.
read more.

* Petitioners set for Round 2 of showdown with City Hall:

Protesters were due to march on four foreign embassies this morning to deliver petitions calling for the release of the 23 detainees held at the remote Correctional Centre 3 after being arrested during the crackdown earlier this month.

The march – to the embassies of Germany, South Korea, Australia and Thailand – comes after 11 activists from the same group representing 181 NGOs were arrested on Tuesday near the US embassy.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said that despite the likelihood that more activists would be grabbed off the streets by private security guards hired by City Hall, the marchers could not turn a blind eye to the detainees’ plight.
“I think there is no choice. The way that we work, there are arrests, we go to prison,” he said. “How can we close our eyes, close our ears?”

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), who was one of the 11 arrested on Tuesday’s march, said he would march again today.
“I am not worried about my security, and I am not scared of being arrested again, because we are not wrong. We’re just bringing petitions to the embassies,” he said.
read more.

* Civil society groups appeal for international intervention for the release of 23 protesters:

181 national and international non-governmental organizations handed over their petitions to foreign embassies on Thursday to seek the release of 23 people who were arrested in protest crackdowns.

A group of some 50 representatives marched along the streets and submitted the petitions to the German, Sweden and South Korean embassies. They will also go to the Australian embassy.

The march was held without disturbance by authorities.
“We see injustice in society,” Thida Khus, Executive Director of Silaka, told reporters after submitting petition to the South Korean Embassy.
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* Workers stage rally against electricity tariff hike:

Hundreds of workers staged a rally here on Wednesday to protest against an electricity tariff increase which they said may lead companies to postpone minimum provincial wage hikes.

The workers came from the Federation of Indonesian Metal Labor Unions (FSPMI), the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBI) and the All-Indonesia Labor Union (SPSI).

The electricity tariff hike may give companies an excuse to postpone minimum provincial wage hikes as stipulated in the manpower and transmigration minister`s regulation number 231 of 2003, the workers said.

“The electricity tariff should not be raised before minimum provincial wages are increased. As a matter of fact, many companies have applied for postponement of minimum provincial wage hikes.
If the electricity tariff is raised companies will have reasons to postpone the minimum provincial wage hikes,” the chief of the KSPI chapter in Jakarta, William Yani said on the sidelines of the rally.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* Garment workers demonstrate demanding new salaries in Savar:

Several hundred workers of Darda Knitwears Ltd at Gazirchot in Ashulia, on the outskirts of the capital, demonstrated at the factory gate demanding implementation of the new wage structure yesterday.

The authorities closed the factory for the day to avoid any untoward incident, workers and witnesses said.
Workers said they were paid the salary of December under the old wage scale on January 10. Amid their protest, the authorities assured them of paying the arrears within next 10 days but they did not stick to their word.
Shamsul Alom, assistant production manager of the factory, said it is now impossible for the authorities to pay under the new scale.
Ashulia industrial police said additional police have been deployed in the area.
to read.

20140122

16:15:43 local time CHINA

* Rising labor costs steer manufacturers offshore:

Driven by rising labor costs in China, textile and garment manufacturer Youngor Group, Hong Kong Union Times Group Limited and an industrial park operator in Guangdong province are reported to be co-investing in an industrial park worth some 1 billion yuan ($165 million) in Vietnam, Beijing Business Today reported on Tuesday.

Youngor will transfer its material manufacturing capacity to the industrial park, in a move that does not surprise industry experts. A few domestic garment manufacturers have moved to countries such as Vietnam due to rising labor costs in China.

Youngor attempted to transfer its production base three years ago. It acquired a shirt manufacturing factory in Hanoi, Vietnam, for more than $4 million in 2011. Li Rucheng, chairman of Youngor Group, said in a previous news report that the investment environment is getting better in Vietnam and labor costs are lower than in Ningbo. He said the factory will become a major processing base for Youngor.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Cambodian garment workers’ battle for labour rights deserves our support:

People in the UK must voice their disapproval of the intolerable conditions facing textile workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh

Last month, some of us will have unwrapped a new scarf, some running shoes or perhaps an old fashioned Christmas jumper. But few of us in the UK would have been aware that on 24 December, thousands of the people who made these items were on strike, protesting for better pay. Or that less than two weeks later, some of them would be dead.

The garment industry is a $5bn (£3bn) a year business for Cambodia. The clothes the country makes for high-street brands make textiles the country’s largest export. And just last month, the Guardian reported that the country “has a reputation for fair treatment of workers”.

But, as the new year violence illustrates, something has gone badly wrong. Tied up in opposition protests for new elections, Cambodia’s garment workers’ call for a higher minimum wage started a chain of events that led to a brutal police crackdown and the deaths of four of those on the picket line.
read more.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* Textile Body Wants Minimum Wage Policy Withdrawn:

The Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA) is appealing to the government to withdraw the foreign workers minimum wage policy, in order to ensure the survival of its members.

The government has said full implementation of the Minimum Wage Order 2012 for foreign workers comes into effect this month.

“We wish to appeal to the Malaysian government to allow the textile and apparel industry to implement the probationary period of three to six months for foreign workers with a minimum wage of RM630 per month, while the employers will have to bear the levy cost during this probation period,” said MTMA Chief Executive Officer Andrew Hong.

“We also appeal to the government to relax the requirements for the recruitment of foreign workers so that the factories can be allowed to recruit more foreign workers to reduce the overtime cost in order to remain competitive,” he added.
read more. & to read.

* Minimum Wage: No more excuses please:

Jerit urges the government to not show any sympathy or mercy to the employers’ on the issue of minimum wage.

The statement by Malaysia Employer Federation (MEF) reported in The Sun is baseless as it’s already more than a year since the announcement of the implementation of minimum wage policy by the government. We strongly view that the ample time has been given to the employers to implement minimum wage.

The minimum wage which should have been implemented in January 2013 was deferred due to the claims by the employers that they are not ready. Moreover, the government exercised so much of flexibility in favour of the employers such as exempting companies with less than 5 workers from implementing minimum wage.
The allowances (like meals and transportation allowances) were included in the calculation of minimum wage.
Migrants workers were not paid minimum wage since March 2013 although the initial plan was the minimum wage is for all workers.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* Garment workers of Nurjahan Apparels Limited:

Garment workers of Nurjahan Apparels Limited formed a human chain demanding payment of arrear wages in front of BGMEA bhaban in the city Monday. — Photo Focus Bangla
to see.

20140121

ASIA

* Call for end to cheap labour trend in South Asia:

The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) should unanimously decide the wages of labourers, working hours and health facilities so that capitalist forces do not hire labour on cheap rates, says Noor Zaheer, daughter of Sajjad Zaheer, pioneer of the Progressive Writers Association.

He was speaking at an event organised in honour of Ms Zaheer at the South Asian Free Media Association on Saturday.

Herself a writer and a worker of the Communist Party of India, Ms Zaheer said big industrialists looked for cheap labour in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh and the trend should end. Saarc counties should formulate a unanimous policy on the matter and measures should be taken to elevate the standard of life of labourers, she said.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Time for a New Global “Abolitionist” Crusade:

A coalition of 30 brands and three global unions have sent a letter expressing “grave concern” to the Prime Minister Hun Sen and calling for an investigation into the shooting deaths of five striking garment workers during the recent protest and asking for a meeting with the PM.

The brands, including Walt Disney, Puma, Walmart, Gap, Levi and H&M, sent the letter on Friday urging the government to launch a new process to set minimum wages and to respect the rights of workers and trade unions, and requesting an investigation into the incident.

“The use of deadly force against protesting workers will not result in long-term industrial peace and jeopardises Cambodia’s position as a stable sourcing location for international brands,” it said. “The investigation should ensure full accountability of any members of security forces found to have used disproportionate and excessive force.”

The brands also urged the government to respect the rights of 23 workers and union leaders detained since the protests, and to ensure the right to freedom of association.

It follows a similar letter sent in the wake of the crackdown by seven retailers to the government, factories and unions signed mostly by compliance officers condemning the violence and calling for a new wage-setting process.
The brands are clearly concerned about damage to their reputations that might impact the fabulous profits they make from the trade.

Unfortunately their protests are somewhat disingenuous. This is because the only ones with the power to actually to improve the lot of workers in Cambodia is the brands themselves. If anyone benefits from the whole structure of how the industry is organised therefore, it is not Western consumers, it is the Western brand owners. They are one-step removed from the actual manufacture of the garments, which are produced by contract manufacturers.
read more.

* The human right to a living wage is far from being won in Cambodia:

I was deeply saddened to read the article by Anne Elizabeth Moore titled “What’s the Price of Workers’ Lives in Cambodia?” published on January 17 in the US-based Truth-out.org website.

This story contained an outrageous attack on the Cambodian garment workers demonstration over the minimum wage by a well-known Cambodian blogger, academic and human rights activist Sopheap Chak.
I am used to hearing such arguments from employers as a way to escape from their responsibility to pay workers a decent wage, but I did not expect this from an experienced human rights activist.

Chak, program director for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), claimed she has been watching the recent events closely, but disparaged the garment workers’ campaign for a US$160 a month minimum wage.

“You have to come up with the data, come up with a reason why $160 now,” she said in an interview for the article which presented the strike as not really being “about the struggle for living wages in the garment factories” but the workers’ “bodies put to service toward a larger political agenda” of the opposition politician Sam Rainsy’s “bid for power”.
read more.

* Union Leader Released; ‘Free the 23’ Protests To Continue:

Phnom Penh police released union leader Sok Chhun Oeung from custody Monday, a day after dragging him off the street at a peaceful protest he had organized along Phnom Penh’s riverside against the detention of 23 men still in jail for participating in demonstrations over garment factory wages earlier this month.

Remaining defiant on his release, Mr. Chhun Oeung joined human rights groups in denouncing his arrest as illegal and said his union for motorcycle taxi and tuk-tuk drivers, known as the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), would organize an even bigger rally soon in spite of a standing government ban on public gatherings.
read more. & read more.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* Minimum Wage: No more excuses for employers:

JERIT urge the government to not show any sympathy or mercy to the employers’ on the issue of minimum wage.

The statement by Malaysia Employer Federation (MEF) which was reported in “The Sun’ daily on 20-1-2014 (page 2), titled “MEF: Guide, not punish, employers on floor wage” is baseless as it’s already more than a year since the announcement of the implementation of minimum wage policy by the government. We strongly view that the ample time has been given to the employers to implement minimum wage.

The minimum wage which should have been implemented in January 2013 was deferred due to the claims by the employers that they are not ready.
Moreover, the government exercised so much of flexibility in favor of the employers such as exempting companies with less than 5 workers from implementing minimum wage.
The allowances (like meals and transportation allowances) were included in the calculation of minimum wage. Migrants workers were not paid minimum wage since March 2013 although the initial plan was the minimum wage is for all workers.

So, no more excuses now! It’s time to punish the employers who fail to implement the provisions under the Minimum Wage Order. The punishment of fine RM10 000 per worker upon the conviction and RM20 000 fine or five year‘s imprisonment for subsequent offences is the right decision to ensure the employers comply with the minimum wage order.
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates:

1. 166 companies in West Java are granted with Minimum Wage Waiver. Read the full article here (Article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
Read the Google Translate English Version here.

6. Working, but still poor. Read the full article here (Article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
Read the Google Translate English Version here.
7. World Bank sees stronger growth as rich economies expand.
Read the full article here.

BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates overview here.

20140118-20

16:15:43 local time CHINA

* Shenzhen raises minimum wage by 13%:

Southeastern Chinese manufacuring hub of Shenzhen is to raise its minimum pay by 13 percent next month in a bid to attract workers and help them offset the rises in living costs.

As of Feb. 1, the minimum monthly wage for full-time workers in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, will be raised to 1,808 yuan (299 U.S. dollars) from current level of 1,600 yuan, according to a statement from the city’s government.
The new level is the highest nationwide.
read more. & read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Brands call for trade union law:

International clothing brands and union groups presented a united front on Friday, sending a letter signed by 30 groups to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s office.

The letter asks the Cambodian government to address the issues surrounding the rights of 23 people detained since deadly garment worker demonstrations on January 2 and 3 and the violation of citizens’ freedom of association. It also asks the government to introduce a trade union law consistent with International Labour Organization standards, begin a new minimum wage-setting process for the garment industry and meet with signatories of the letter on February 3.

“They deserve praise,” Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua said yesterday. “This is the strongest the brands and the global unions have come together.”

Signatories to the letter include Adidas, American Eagle Outfitters, Bonmarche, C&A Europe, Debenhams, Esprit, Fifth and Pacific Companies, Gap, H&M, Inditex, IndustriALL Global Union, the International Trade Union Confederation, Levi Strauss & Co, Lululemon Athletica, Migros, N Brown Group, New Balance, New Look, Nike, Orsay, Primark, Puma, PVH, Tchibo, Tesco, The Jones Group, The Walt Disney Company, Under Armour, UNI Global Union and Walmart.

The letter also states the signatory groups’ strong support of the United Nations’ request for Cambodia to launch a “prompt and thorough” investigation into crackdowns on demonstrations on January 2 and 3 that left at least four dead, dozens injured and 23 detained.
read more. & read more.

* Global unions and 30 major brands call on Cambodian government to investigate deadly violence:

IndustriALL Global Union, UNI Global Union, and the ITUC have joined forces with 30 global brands to urge the Cambodian government to investigate the recent use of deadly force against striking garment workers.

IndustriALL and UNI, whose joint efforts resulted in the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, say they are encouraged that brands are taking responsibility for their production and are demanding a change from the Cambodian government.

The letter, dated Friday, urged the government to launch a new process to set minimum wages and to respect the rights of workers and trade unions. The brands also asked for a meeting with Mr. Hun Sen himself.
The group expressed its concern at the killing and wounding of workers and bystanders by security forces on 2 and 3 January, when peaceful demonstrations were taking place over an increase in the minimum wage.
read more. & to read. & read more.

* What’s the Price of Workers’ Lives in Cambodia?:

By now you’ve heard that military police in Cambodia killed five garment workers demanding a living wage of $160 per month in the early days of 2014, but only some of this is true.

Here’s a slightly more accurate version: On Tuesday, December 24, during a period of nationwide political unrest, the Cambodian government announced a raise of $15 to garment workers’ monthly minimum wage of $80, for a new total of $95 per month, to start in April, 2014. Workers responded the next day by walking off jobs and demanding the current wage be doubled, for a new monthly wage of $160.

The next few days saw the largest demonstrations in the country’s history. Tens of thousands – maybe hundreds of thousands – gathered. Protesters were holding demonstrations all over the city: stopping work, blocking roads, holding rallies. The mood of these events was primarily jubilant, although there was a dark side. Numbers of demonstrators continued to swell.
read more.

* Treating garment workers in Cambodia as terrorists:

In the Canadia Industrial Park, factories are mostly back in operation, bustling to fulfill orders for major Western labels. There are few signs of the brutal crackdown that recently afflicted this complex on the Cambodian capital’s southern outskirts.

Two weeks ago, the Cambodian military wielded guns and steel pipes to break up strikes by garment workers, who oppose the country’s new $95 monthly minimum wage. Five demonstrators died and dozens were injured.

Tensions remain high. The Cambodian government has banned protests indefinitely. More than 100 factory owners have gone on the offensive, filing lawsuits against the labor unions and claiming enormous losses and property damage.
read more.

* Despite Violence, Cambodian Workers Vow To Continue Their Fight:

Though Cambodia’s days of colonialization, war and genocide may be over, the country is still wrestling with political turmoil.

At the start of the new year, when workers massed in Phnom Penh to demand a fair minimum wage, the government responded with a spray of bullets.

A major garment worker strike in December capped a recent groundswell of protest in the country’s capital. After deeming insufficient the government’s proposed hike of the minimum wage to $95, labor leaders aligned with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party to shutter factories and bring large crowds into the streets, concluding a year of labor agitation that saw more than 130 strikes.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* Agency sees 88 labour leaders’ hand in RMG sector unrest:

About 88 labour leaders were allegedly involved in instigating the recent unrest over the new wage structure in the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector, a government agency revealed.

The agency in a report urged the authorities concerned to take legal action against the labour leaders for their unlawful activities, sources said.

Based on the report, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also recently asked the ministries of home affairs, commerce and labour to take effective measures against any such illegal activities which could jeopardise the country’s major foreign currency earning sector, they said.

According to the report, these labour leaders, based in Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chittagong districts, were directly or indirectly involved in instigating the unrest which caused a significant financial loss to the sector.
Of the 88 labour leaders, 47 are based in Gazipur, 22 in Narayanganj and 19 in Chittagong.

The report said after announcement of the minimum wage at Tk 5,300 by the government-formed wage board, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had urged the labourers to remain calm until the gazette notification was made. Despite the call, labour unrest and other destructive activities took place in different industrial zones to press for announcing Tk 8,000 as the minimum wage.
read more.

* Democratic labour law demanded:

Left politicians and labour leaders on Friday at a rally in the capital demanded formulation of a democratic labour law ensuring proper wages and safety of workers at workplaces.

Khalequzzaman, general secretary of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh, at the programme in front of the National Press Club said the government had failed to formulate a democratic labour law to ensure the rights of the workers.
The workers were suffering much as they were mostly low paid and their workplaces lack of safety, Khalequzzaman said.
Samajtantrik Sramik Front, labour front of the SPB, organised the rally to mark 32nd founding anniversary of the organisation.
Zahedul Haque Milu, president of the organization, said in the country most of the workers, specially the garment workers, were deprived of their right to trade unionism.
‘But the government must establish the trade union rights of the workers according to the International Labour Law Convention,’ Zahedul said.
to read.

* Regular payment of wages can help reduce 50pc RMG unrest:

Labour leaders of the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector Sunday identified more than 20 problems troubling the RMG industry. Those include implementation of the labour law and the new wage structure, which they held responsible for the workers’ agitation.

The problems also include sacking of workers without benefits, payment of wages without following the grades prescribed in the Wage Board Award, harassment of the workers who are involved with trade union activities, absence of maternity leave, and insecurity involving re-joining work after enjoying the leave benefit, increase in house rent along with other essentials’ prices upon announcement of the new wage structure, the labour leaders said.

They also suggested regular meetings of workers and labour leaders with the garment factory owners and the government, training for both the groups to make them aware of their rights and responsibilities, allowing trade unions, stopping ‘jhut’ business with a view to establishing a healthy relationship between the workers and the owners.
read more.

* RMG workers unrest in Savar:

Workers of two readymade garments in Ashulia started work abstention protesting salary and production bonus decrease on Saturday morning.

Sources said that workers of Galimpur Sweater factory and Fa Apparels Limited abstained from work
since last five days for paying less salary and production bonus.
The workers told banglanews that one month had passed and another month is going to be ended, but the
authority still did not pay salaries.
read more.

* Garment Factories facing unrests on the first month of the new wage system:

January 2014 is an important month this year, as this new January of this new year is the first month when payment based on the new Minimum Wage declared on 2013 will be enforceable.

On 27 December 2013 unrest started Fashions Limited garments factory in Mohammadpur, Dhaka. Workers protested for not being paid their due overtime on 15 December 2013 which was then delayed three times and promised eventually on 27 December 2013.
However, on 27 of December 2013, the Production Manager informed that he can only pay half of their overtime payments and another half would be paid during January 2014 to which the workers did not agree.

Some workers went on to vandalize factory property which resulted in the factory being shut down for that day and production stopped.

The factory had been in production since the last few months with workers working huge overtimes to meet strict deadlines for famous western brands. Feelings of being let down by the management had been simmering ever since last November, however work continued for the sake of the pay which the workers use to barely exist.
read more.

* A worker’s ordeal – unrests due to incorrect wages:

Recently factories in Bangladesh are generally implementing the Minimum Wage 2013 in their factories, since its declaration back in November 2013. January 2014 is the month of the first salary paid according to this new structure.

Some factories however find it more complicated, and often end up in violence. As unfortunate as this is, it carries a story for us to see how these could always be avoided so easily.

Recently, Tung Hai Sweaters Limited in the Mirpur area of Dhaka had an unrest surrounding wages. Due to current political unrest in Bangladesh, garment factories have been facing huge losses in not being able to ship their consignments to the Port for shipment.
The infamous blockade hampers the trucks which would otherwise carry their consignments to the port city easily. Work pressure has not been there at some factories, and this particular factory seemed to be one of them. However, the wage is a livelihood for many families and at least the minimum wage is expected to be paid on time.

A worker describes his and his fellow worker’s ordeal when the wages were not paid correctly this January 2014.
read more.

* Committee formed by govt to sit this week:

The committee formed by the government will sit with both sweater factory owners and workers this week to resolve the dispute over payment and other related issues for piece-rate basis factory workers, sources said.

The labour ministry, early this month, formed a 12-member committee headed by a joint secretary. The committee comprises of four members each from the government side, sweater factory owners and labour leaders with two sweater factory workers who work on piece-rate basis.

The committee was formed to identify the problems and find out ways out of the prevailing problems through discussions, they added.

The move came following frequent complaints made by labour leaders that the sweater factory workers are being deprived of legal service benefits and that they are unlikely to be benefitted by the new wage structure for the garment workers as there is no clear indication of hike for piece-rate workers in the award.

The sweater factory workers also demanded hike in their piece-rate payment, food and transport allowance in accordance with the newly-announced wage award for garment workers.
read more.

20140117

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* One Garment Strike Ends, Two Begin, Over Missing Pay:

Garment workers at a Kandal province factory ended their most recent strike Thursday after management agreed to pay out part of their wages for the days they were absent during a previous strike, while workers at a Phnom Penh factory went back on strike because their employers would not agree to give them strike pay.

About 3,000 employees of Kandal’s Quint Major Industrial went on strike this week to demand that the owners pay them at least half their wages for the days in December they had joined nationwide strikes demanding a higher minimum wage for the entire garment sector.

They ended their latest strike Thursday after the factory agreed to pay them 30 percent for the days they were on strike, said Seang Rithy, head of the Cambodian Labor Solidarity Union Federation.
read more.

* Retail associations urge talks:

Six major retail, footwear and garment industry associations whose members account for over 90 per cent of garment imports in the US and Canada have called on the Cambodian government, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and unions to resume wage negotiations.

The open letter, dated January 15, is addressed to Prime Minister Hun Sen, GMAC general secretary Ken Loo and five of the unions at the centre of the ongoing dispute over the minimum monthly garment salary.

“Our industry is committed to ensuring that all the products that they produce, source and sell are manufactured under lawful and humane conditions,” the letter stated. In addition to urging an immediate resumption of talks, the signatories requested for the creation of a regularly-scheduled wage review mechanism, and call on those involved to “end all violence.”

“These actions will not only promote both the short and long-term health and stability of the Cambodian garment and footwear industries, but these actions will also enable the Cambodian garment and footwear industry to maintain the strong relationships it has with our member companies,” the letter goes on to say.
read more.

* Cambodia versus ‘cheap China’:

In this week’s interview, Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, weighs in on the minimum wage debate in Cambodia and discusses the impact that China’s increasing costs will have on the manufacturing industry here, as investors look beyond the world’s second-largest economy.

As the title of your book, The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends that Will Disrupt the World, makes clear, China is no longer the highly desired manufacturing location it once was. What happened?
Chinese factory salaries have gone up 15 to 20 per cent annually for the past five years. High salaries, combined with soaring rents and an ageing population, have squeezed margins for manufacturers, forcing them to relocate to lower cost countries like Cambodia, Indonesia or internally within China to provinces such as Sichuan. Nike, for instance, gets 37 per cent of its products from Vietnam versus 35 per cent from China.

What does such a shift mean for the region?
There are great opportunities for Cambodia and ASEAN in general to grab market share in the manufacturing sector, especially in light industry. Many apparel and footwear companies are looking to relocate to ASEAN as long as they can find the proper infrastructure and stable government policies. Thailand is attracting more auto sector investment, Bali and other resort areas will benefit from more outbound Chinese tourism.
read more.

14:45:43 local time BURMA/MYANMAR

* Myanmar to announce minimum wage by end of year:

Myanmar’s labour minister said the government would announce an official minimum wage for workers before the end of this year.

Minister of Labour Aye Myint, made the announcement at the first meeting of the national committee working for the minimum wage held on January 16.
“There are several conditions to consider in detail and may also be obstacles in the process. There may be differences depending on regions, job types and living costs. The official minimum wage should be the kind of win-win situation for both workers and employers,” said the minister.
read more.

20140115-16

ASIA

* Southeast Asia’s wage hikes:

Steep wage increases in Southeast Asian countries have put an increasingly unbearable burden on Korean manufacturers operating in the region to maintain price competitiveness. More than 8,200 Korean companies have run production facilities in a number of Southeast Asian nations to take advantage of their low labour costs.

According to industry sources here, the monthly minimum wage for Cambodian workers has more than doubled over the past months, with pay increases reaching 14.9 per cent and 22 per cent for labourers in major Vietnamese and Indonesian cities, respectively.

The labour costs faced by Korean companies in the region, which usually give employees at least twice the minimum wage in actual pay, are expected to grow further as calls for wage hikes are intensifying in most Southeast Asian countries.

A recent survey by a Japanese trade organisation showed that Japanese companies expect wages to rise this year by double digits in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar, and by about 7 per cent in Cambodia and Laos. Korean enterprises may have to brace for similar increases.

Though to different extents, Southeast Asian countries have been losing their advantages as production bases outside of China. In Malaysia and Thailand, Korean companies are expected to spend between US$7,000 and $7,800 per worker in average annual pay, near the current level of $8,000 in China.
read more.

* Asia accidents help drive up factory audits:

Deadly factory incidents in Asia are forcing more Western brands to rethink their search for low production prices.

According to new research, factory audits in Asia rose 61 percent in 2013 from a year earlier, a sign that more brands are investing in monitoring their supply chain, according to Sebastien Breteau, chief executive of AsiaInspection, a Hong Kong-based firm that provides auditing and product-testing services.

The research comes two months after fast-fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz AB introduced a plan to ensure that workers making its clothing in Bangladesh and Cambodia are paid wages that cover their cost of living.

Li & Fung, the buying agent for major Western brands including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp., also recently said it is seeing less of a push from retailers to lower their costs.
“On the global sourcing front, we have witnessed the price deflation trend becoming more subdued this year,” Li & Fung said in its 2013 interim report. “With the tragedies in Bangladesh, the apparel industry placed a stronger focus on workers’ safety, vendor compliance, quality control and sustainability among industry players.”

Low production costs have long been the key goal for major brands, which say they want to pass savings onto consumers.
Rising wages in China and elsewhere in Asia sent companies from leather-goods maker Coach Inc. to clog-maker Crocs Inc. and Japan’s casual-clothing chain Uniqlo, operated by Fast Retailing Co., hopscotching to other countries to diversify their manufacturing bases and cut costs.
Yet now, more retailers are paying attention to how their drive for lower costs could impact worker safety after some high-profile factory disasters.
read more.

16:15:43 local time CHINA

* 26 provinces raise minimum wage:

A total of 26 Chinese provinces decided to raise their minimum wages by the end of 2013, according to statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Currently, Shanghai sees the highest minimum wage per month, i.e. 1,620 yuan (US$267.89).
Other regions that made the decision include Beijing, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Shandong, Tianjin, Guangdong, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Chongqing.
Some of the pay rise plans will be implemented in 2014.

The continuous wage rise will help China accelerate the adjustment of its economic structure and the transformation of the growth model, the Economic Information reported.
“It will be impossible to realize rapid economic growth through low labor cost,” said Zhang Monan, associate researcher with China Center of International Economic Exchange, “It’s high time to improve productivity and the workers’ quality.”
to read.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Manhattan workers on strike again:

More than 1,000 workers at the Manhattan (Cambodia) Co Ltd garment factory in Kampong Cham province are striking in the wake of factory management’s reaction to their last strike action.

Employees walked off the job nearly two weeks ago, after the suspension of seven Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) representatives who allegedly led workers to participate in a previous nationwide garment strike.

“Some workers who joined the mass demonstration … returned to work,” said Kim Oun, one of the suspended employees. “But most of the workers refused, because their seven union representatives were suspended from work and sued in court.”

Workers are demanding the factory drop court complaints filed against four of the reps, and not punish returning employees, Oun said.
An unnamed provincial Labour Department official said the department would meet with the union to find a solution today.
to read.

* Strike action still on table, unions say:

Leaders of unions that declared a nationwide garment worker strike said the work stoppage and protests, which they temporarily suspended, will resume unless government officials renegotiate the industry’s minimum wage.

The announcement was their first since authorities cracked down on strike demonstrations on January 2 and opened fire on protesters near Canadia Industrial Park the following day, killing at least four.

Speaking at a forum, union heads appealed to the government to release 23 people arrested during demonstrations and to hold authorities accountable for the deadly shooting, in addition to entering into minimum wage negotiations with unions.

“We won’t suspend [the strike] too long; if there is no solution, we will re-declare a grand strike,” Rong Chhun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Unions, said at the forum. “We will prepare for [more] gatherings.”

The minimum wage for employees at garment and shoe factories now stands at $80 per month, which includes a $5 health bonus. The Ministry of Labour last month announced the minimum wage would climb to $95 in 2014, but later amended the decision, setting this year’s industry floor wage at $100.
read more.

* Labor unions ask to resume talk, set up scientific wage system:

The labor unions asked to set up a scientific wage system to solve the wage crisis while they continue to demand a monthly wage of USD160, which can allow the workers to live a decent life.

They made such an appeal during a press conference on Wednesday. During the conference, they also urged to restart the negotiation on the minimum wage, warning that they just suspend the strike and if necessary, they will go on strike again in case there is no solution to their demand.

“To set up this system, we request the ILO’s technical assistance, which is more neutral, reliable and acceptable to all parties concerned,” said the joint statement released Wednesday by the main labor unions.

The unions would like to stress that the monthly minimum wage of $100 cannot ensure a decent living wage. Based on a research conducted by the tripartite committee with the agreement of all parties, it was found that workers spend from $157 to $177 per month, and the Ministry of Planning’s report also found a living cost of $164 per month per person.

Representatives from international unions, national and international organisations, buyers and other stakeholders have recently confirmed that workers live in an extremely difficult condition. The government and employers are, therefore, required to provide a fair minimum wage for workers and to unconditionally set free all the detained workers and human rights activists involved in the recent wage protest.
read more.

* Unions Warn of More Strikes Unless Wage Talks Resume:

The trade unions behind recently suspended nationwide strikes defended their ongoing demand for a $160 monthly minimum wage for the country’s 600,000 garment workers on Wednesday, and vowed to resume the strikes if the government and factories did not agree to negotiations soon.

“We just suspend it [the strikes] for a time,” said Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions. “If there is no…appropriate solution for the workers, there will be a declaration for [another] mass strike, a peaceful mass strike.”

The strikes had forced many of the country’s 500-plus garment factories to shut down or scale back production for several days and came to a violent end on January 3 when military police shot into crowds of protesters outside a Phnom Penh factory, killing five and wounding dozens.

Eight unions Wednesday put out a statement calling for wage negotiations to resume and defended their pay demand at a press conference in Phnom Penh amid the government’s refusal to push the minimum wage—now set at $80 a month—past $100.
read more.

* Garment Workers Continue Striking Over Unpaid Wages:

Workers at two factories continued striking Wednesday to demand that their employers pay them half their wages for the days they spent on strike during mass garment sector demonstrations earlier this month.

About 3,000 workers from Quint Major Industrial garment factory in Kandal province stayed away from work and instead held a protest march down National Road 4 to demand that they receive at least half pay for the days they spent striking.

The workers had marched about half a kilometer from the factory toward the local district office before management told them they were willing to negotiate, said Seang Rithy, head of the Cambodian Labor Solidarity Union Federation.

“Our workers demand 50 percent for the days on strike, but the company has not yet responded to our request and they will give an answer [today],” he said. “All the workers pledge not to return if the company does not pay them 50 percent for the days on strike.”
read more.

* Despite Violence, Cambodian Workers Vow To Continue Their Fight:

Though Cambodia’s days of colonialization, war and genocide may be over, the country is still wrestling with political turmoil.

At the start of the new year, when workers massed in Phnom Penh to demand a fair minimum wage, the government responded with a spray of bullets.

Newly reelected Prime Minister Hun Sen—a former Khmer Rouge official whose legitimacy has been questioned amid accusations of rigging last summer’s election—took the protests as an opportunity to suppress both the pro-democracy and labor movements with one fierce blow. On January 3, police responded to protesters’ bottles and petrol bombs with live ammunition, killing five and injuring dozens. More than twenty were detained, and some are reportedly still being held incommunicado.
read more.

* Garment Workers Go Back on Strike Over Unpaid Wages:

Thousands of garment workers from four factories have gone back on strike this week to protest a decision by their employers to withhold pay for the days they did not work during recent nationwide strikes.

Between 8,500 and 12,500 workers at four factories—two in Phnom Penh, one in Kandal and another in Kompong Cham—have gone back on strike, union representatives and workers said Tuesday.

“This is the second day of strikes by workers who are demanding that the two factories [in Phnom Penh] pay them because they cut their wages 100 percent for the time they were off during the strike,” said Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers.

Union representatives at the two other factories said workers there were striking for the same reason.
read more.

* Wages on par with regional standard: PM :

Amid calls for the government to raise Cambodian garment workers’ minimum monthly wage to $160, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said that wages garment workers earn fall in line with regional standards.

In a speech at a groundbreaking ceremony for a bridge project in Kandal province yesterday, the premier asserted that garment workers in neighbouring countries and Cambodian workers in other industries earn less than Cambodian apparel workers, and garment factories cannot afford the increase unions demand.

“I asked the Vietnamese Prime Minister about the minimum wage of garment workers in Vietnam; he said they get more than $100 per month,” Hun Sen said. “If [we] compare this to our increase to $100, it’s nearly the same as Vietnam, but higher than India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Laos.”

Hun Sen added that garment factories could not afford a sudden jump to $160 from last year’s minimum wage decree of $80, which includes a $5 health bonus.
read more.

* Hun Sen Says He’s Here to Stay; Higher Wages Must Wait:

Prime Minister Hun Sen used a groundbreaking ceremony for a new bridge linking Cambodia to Vietnam on Tuesday to reiterate that he has no plans to step down from his position, and told opposition supporters who have called for his ouster to settle in for a long wait.

The ceremony for the $38.4 million Chrey Thom bridge in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district, which was agreed on during Mr. Hun Sen’s trip to Vietnam last month, came on the third day of a three-day visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
read more.

* PM’s Reaction to Demand for Double Pay Rise:

Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has made his first public reaction to the request to double the garment workers’ monthly minimum wage.

The increase of the garment workers’ minimum wage to US$160 per month is impossible, underlined the Cambodian premier while he was presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony of Chrey Thom-Long Binh Bridge in Koh Thom, Cambodia’s province of Kandal, this morning.

The pay rise should be done in accordance with the ability, said Samdech Techo Hun Sen, stressing that the minimum wage in Cambodia is higher than in other countries such as India, Bangladesh, ….
read more.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* Govt to take action on employers not paying minimum wage:

Employers in Peninsula Malaysia who have not started paying the minimum wage will be taken to court and may face punishments of RM10,000 fine for each underpaid worker and RM20,000 or five year’s imprisonment if found guilty, effective immediately.

Human Resources Deputy Minister Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib said the minimum wage policy had been in effect since Jan 1 and the Ministry has since been monitoring employers to ensure workers are being paid accordingly.
read more.

* Guan Eng: Cabinet committee meaningless without floor wage hike:

Putrajaya’s special cabinet committee to tackle cost of living issues would be “meaningless” unless minimum wages are raised to RM1,100 a month from RM900, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng said today.

“It will be a mere talk shop full of meaningless flowery words without real actions to lessen the people’s financial burden,” the opposition party secretary-general said in his Thaipusam message today, of the Cabinet committee.

He said the recent price increases for sugar, petrol, electricity along with widely expected toll hikes highlight the sad fact that wages aren’t keeping up with inflation.
read more.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* RMG workers want minimum wage, protest owners’ ‘unethical’ acts:

The government fixed the minimum wage at Tk5,300, but the workers claimed that the factory owners have been paying them Tk4,200

Workers of a readymade garment (RMG) factory on Tuesday staged daylong demonstrations in the capital’s Manda area under Mughda police station, demanding immediate implementation of the minimum wage scale fixed by the government.

During the demonstrations, the workers of Ethical Garments Factory protested against “unethical” practices of the factory owners, saying they have been deprived of their rightful payment.

According to witnesses and police, some 2,000 workers of the factory took to the streets in front of the factory around 7:30am instead of joining work.

They paraded along the area, chanting slogans against the factory authority for dilly-dallying in implementing the minimum wage scale.
read more.

* RMG wage board asks for list of missing posts:

The wage board for the readymade garments industry Wednesday asked for a list of the missing posts from both labour leaders and apparel makers representatives to incorporate them in the new wage structure.

“After getting the lists of the workers’ posts from both the groups, we will discuss the same in the next meeting and take necessary measures to incorporate them accordingly,” Minimum Wage Board acting Chairman AK Fazlul Haque said after the meeting held in the city on the day. “Which posts would be incorporated in which grades would be decided after discussions,” he added.

The Wage Board members sat Wednesday again, one and half months after the gazette notification of the wage hike for the readymade garment workers.

The move to incorporate the missing posts came following allegations from the labour leaders that many posts especially of printing, embroidery, washing and other related industries of the garment sector were not included in the new wage structure while apparel makers also sought clarifications from the labour ministry regarding this.

“A large number of posts of garment workers, especially in printing, embroidery and washing units in the grades three to six were not included in the new wage structure though we repeatedly pressed for it in the previous Wage Board’s meetings,” Sirajul Islam Rony, representative of the RMG workers on the board, said.
read more. & read more.

* Implementation of new wage for RMG workers demanded:

Leaders of different garment workers rights bodies on Wednesday demanded implementation of new wage structure in all garment factories.

Bahrena Sultan Bahar at a press conference at Sanjkta Sramik Federation office in the capital alleged that many of the garment factories did not implement the announced wage scheduled to be effective from December 1, 2013.
He called on the government to take steps for implementing the new wage structure in all garment factories.
Some of the factories did not implement the new wage and some made irregularities in fixing the grade of the workers in implementing the wage, Bahar alleged.
read more.

20140113-14

15:15:43 local time VIET NAM

* Labour market to see minor wage growth in 2014:

The Vietnamese labour market this year will see just a 6-8 per cent salary increase due to the sluggish economy.

The forecast was made by Nicola Connolly, chairwoman of Eurocham’s Human Resources and Training Sector Committee.

At a press briefing in HCM City on January 9, she said that minimum wage insurance in Q3 of this year is expected to reach VND3.2 million ($152.3).
The outlook for the Vietnamese labour market is contingent on various global trends – high unemployment rates, production shifts, the increasing skills gap and shortage, freelancing become an ever more normal way of life and the internet which is creating a larger marketplace for jobs.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Hun Sen: Minimum wage of workers cannot be increased to USD160:

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday said it would be impossible to double the garment workers from USD 80 to USD 160 even though he wish to see them to have better life.

“Which leaders and Prime Ministers don’t want to see their peoples have good and high standard of living,”,
Hun Sen said at the ground-breaking ceremony of Chrey Thom-Long Binh Bridge in Kandal province.

Hun Sen, who attended the ceremony with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, said the salaries of Cambodian workers are higher than those of workers in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Laos, and as high as the minimum wage in Vietnam.
He also appealed to opposition leaders to stop inciting protest to demand wage be raised to $160 per month for workers as “it is impossible”.
read more.

* Huge spike in strikes: report:

Garment workers hold a placard during a demonstration outside the Ministry of Labour in Phnom Penh in December. POST STAFF

Labour union officials say inflation and Cambodia’s national election contributed to a nearly 300 per cent increase in strikes last year over 2012.

An annual study of Cambodia’s labour market released yesterday by the Free Trade Union counted 381 industrial strikes in the Kingdom in 2013. The FTU reported just 101 strike actions for 2012.

“The high cost of merchandise, rental houses and food is the reason why the number of strikes is increasing so much,” FTU president Chea Mony told the Post yesterday. “When everything gets more expensive, it leads to workers demanding pay raises and increased benefits.”

Among the wage-driven strikes last year was a national garment worker strike that began on December 24 after the Ministry of Labour set the 2014 minimum monthly wage for garment and shoe factory employees at $95, a figure $65 less than the $160 unions demanded. A week later, the Labour Ministry raised the 2014 floor wage to $100, but unions balked at the small increase and continued striking.
read more.

* Free Trade Union Reports Overall Jump in Labor Strikes in 2013:

The Free Trade Union (FTU) on Monday reported an overall increase in industrial action by its local branches last year with 136 total strikes in the first 11 months of 2013, up 35 percent from all of 2012, when there were 101 strikes by its members.

This increase does not include the 241 strikes by FTU members in December during nationwide strikes, which culminated in police shooting dead five workers and wounding more than 40 on January 3.
Chea Mony, president of the FTU, said the heightened industrial unrest among his workers was a result of the rising cost of living.

“There were a lot of strikes and protests increased because of inflation, so the workers had to demand more salary,” he said. “Also the factory workers are forced to work overtime.”
In order to reduce industrial action, Mr. Mony suggested that the government and factory owners should stop intimidating and firing union activists, and instead deal with the root causes of labor strikes: low salary and mandatory overtime.
read more.

* Government Urged to Ease Pressure on Unions:

Visiting representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Monday urged the Labor Ministry to withdraw its threat to revoke the licenses of six unions behind recent strikes, and to drop legal proceedings against union leader Rong Chhun.

ITUC deputy general-secretary Jaap Wienen, whose Belgium-based group works with unions around the world including Mr. Chhun’s Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said he delivered the “advice” at a private meeting with Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Monday morning.

His visit follows garment worker protests that peaked on January 3 when military police opened fire on demonstrators outside a Phnom Penh factory, killing five and wounding dozens. About 100 factories have since sued the six unions for allegedly inciting the violence, and Mr. Chhun is scheduled for questioning today.
read more.

* Pressure grows for reforms of Cambodia garment industry:

Four dead. Thirty-seven injured. Three missing. Twenty-three detained.

Driving through the evening streets of Phnom Penh, Kong Athit grimly details the casualty toll of last week’s bloody crackdown in the Cambodian capital. “All of the dead were garment workers. All of the missing are garment workers. Among the 23 detainees, 21 are garment workers.”

Athit is the vice-president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, or C-CAWDU, and his membership has been out in force through rolling protests in the capital, demanding an increase in the minimum monthly wage to $160.
This, the bloodiest protest thus far, commenced Christmas Eve, grew into the hundreds of thousands, and exploded in two violent standoffs between rock-throwing, stick-bearing protesters, who by day earn a meagre living sewing garments for global brand name manufacturers, and local police with AK-47s.
For four days the whereabouts of detainees, charged with “intentional violence” and “intentional damage,” was unknown even to family members. Athit says C-CAWDU leaders are now under close watch by security police.
read more.

* The ITUC Is Watching You Too:

Mr. Jaap Wienen, Deputy General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) representing 176 million workers worldwide, had a meeting at the Ministry of Labour, giving his full support to the cambodian workers demands of a $US160 monthly salary and the release of the workers and union leaders arrested during the January 2nd and 3rd crackdown (see HERE and HERE).

read & see more.

* Cambodian government must investigate killings and increase minimum wage:

IndustriALL Global Union and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) calls for the Cambodian government to act immediately to investigate the killing of four garment workers during strikes on 3 January, release all 23 detained unionists, and set a minimum wage on which workers and their families can at least meet their basic needs.

On 10-13 January, IndustriALL and the IUC joined forces for an international trade union mission to Cambodia. Demanding the release of jailed unionists, an investigation into the killings, and an increased minimum wage, the mission expresses particular concern over the fate of union president Vorn Pao. He was severely beaten and remains in jail despite his poor physical condition.

The mission demands the establishment of a credible, independent inquiry to investigate the killings and for those responsible to be held accountable. This demand was put to Cambodia’s Labour Minister today.

The delegation also informed him that the plan announced to set up a government-controlled inquiry is seen as insufficient, given that government such committees have produced few results in the past.

Calls for urgent action to raise the minimum wage and a government pledge to fully respect ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association, which Cambodia has ratified, were also put to the Minister. A government proposal to set up a new Commission on wages, headed by the Finance Minister, was described as inadequate. No meeting of that Commission has been scheduled yet, and further delay in establishing a decent minimum wage is likely to lead to further industrial action as workers seek justice.
read more.

* Cambodia: Statement from International Trade Union Mission:

An international trade union mission to Cambodia has today called for the government to act immediately to investigate the killing of four garment workers during strikes on 3 January, release all 23 detained unionists, and set a minimum wage on which workers and their families can at least meet their basic needs.

The mission has expressed particular concern over the fate of union president Vorn Pao, who was severely beaten and remains in jail despite his poor physical condition.
In a statement issued by the ITUC, its regional body ITUC-AP and the regional office of Global Union Federation IndustriALL, the mission demanded the establishment of a credible, independent inquiry to investigate the killings and for those responsible to be held accountable. This demand was put to Cambodia’s Labour Minister today.
read more.

* Unions Want Government, Factories to Resume Wage Talks:

The unions behind several days of strikes that turned deadly this month said they will officially ask the Labor Ministry today to resume negotiations on a new minimum wage for the country’s critical garment sector, and said they would hold more street protests if their request is rebuffed.

The six unions led strikes for a doubling of the sector’s monthly minimum wage to $160 that peaked when military police shot into crowds of protesters outside a Phnom Penh factory on January 3, killing five people and wounding dozens more.

Though most workers have since returned to their factories and the Labor Ministry has offered to boost the minimum wage from $80 to $100 per month, the unions said Sunday that they were sticking to their demand for $160.
read more.

* Cambodian garment workers: The skin of their teeth, the shirt on your back:

Her quick hands and sharp eyes have, for a year, inspected the stitching in a stream of clothes before they left a factory by a dusty potholed street in Phnom Penh to head to stores in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Berlin, London and New York.

Today Ms Heit Ladi, 20, who eked out a living by the proverbial skin of her teeth on a monthly salary of US$80 (S$102) and just wanted more, lies staring at the ceiling in Phnom Penh’s Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, her upper left arm shattered by two bullets. She wonders if it will heal well enough for her to resume work.
She is among over 30 left wounded when troops opened fire on striking workers on Jan 3. Five were killed.

The local rights organisation, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, called it “the worst state violence to hit civilians in 15 years”.
Seven global apparel brand names which buy from Cambodian factories, in an open letter to Cambodia’s strongman Premier Hun Sen last Tuesday, expressed deep concern over “the widespread civil unrest and the government’s use of deadly force”.
read more.

* Blood on our backs:

Global garment workers deserve more than intermittent concern

A garment worker on strike holds a banner demanding a minimum salary of $160 a month on December 27, 2013 in Phnom Penh, CambodiaOmar Havana/Getty Images

Early one morning about a week ago, I awoke in a shiver, grabbed a purple cotton shirt from my closet and pulled it over my head. I didn’t notice the label. I made my coffee and checked the news.

On the other side of the globe, five Cambodians had been shot and killed and more than 20 wounded as military police cracked down on a swelling demonstration of garment workers protesting for higher pay. I clicked on the wrenching photo of a body bathed in blood, his shirt and pants painted the same startling red as the dirt beneath him. As rocks, bricks and Molotov cocktails flew, armed forces responded with batons and bullets. The human-rights group Licadho called it the worst violence against Cambodian civilians in 15 years.

It’s a remarkably risky job, making clothes for Westerners. When the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Bangladesh in April, killing more than 1,100 people, we Westerners responded with a collective pause: How, exactly, should we think about the workers who make our clothes? But we didn’t think long or hard enough. In October fire killed seven workers in a Bangladesh fabric mill that supplied cloth for Western companies. Human Rights Watch has said the tragedy could have been prevented. And now blood spatters the streets of Phnom Penh amid massive political protests, as opposition leaders demand long-standing Prime Minister Hun Sen step down after decades in charge.

I looked at the shirt on my back: a Tresics tag, “made in Cambodia.” I flipped through hangers and dresser drawers to find more made-in-Cambodia labels from Mossimo, Old Navy, Faded Glory, Gap and Sonoma, purchased long ago from Target, Walmart and Kohl’s.
read more.

16:15:43 local time INDONESIA

* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates:

2. High Minimum Wage, Industry start leaving West Java.
Read the full article here (Article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
Read the Google Translate English Version here

4. 101 Companies in Bekasi proposes Minimum Wage Postponement.
Read the full article here(Article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
5. 16 Companies in DKI is in process of Minimum Wage Postponement.
Read the full article here(article is in Bahasa Indonesia)
Read the Google Translate English Version here
6. New health insurance program confuses people. Read the full article here

BetterWork Indonesia Media Update overview here.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* RMG workers stage demo in capital:

Readymade garment (RMG) workers staged demonstrations in the capital’s Manda area under Mughda police station demanding the implementation of the minimum wage scale fixed by the government.

During the demonstrations, the workers of Ethical Garments Factory protested “unethical” activities of the authority by depriving them from their logical payment.

Witnesses and police said some 2000 workers of the factory took to the streets in front of the factory around 7:30am instead of joining their workplace.

They paraded in the area, chanting slogans voicing their demands and protesting of factory authorities’ dilly-dallying in implementing the minimum wage scale.

The workers claimed that the factory authorities have been paying them a minimum wage of Tk4200 only instead of Tk5300 which was fixed by the labour ministry.
read more.

* RMG wage board to sit Wednesday:

The minimum wages board for apparel workers is scheduled for holding its meeting on Wednesday, about one month and a half after awarding new wage structure, aiming at the inclusion of some new posts, which were left out, in the award, said officials concerned.

During the implementation of the new wage structure, it was found that many posts of workers were not included in any grade in the award published in gazette notification December 5, 2013.
Those workers are facing complication in receiving their wages as the owners of the apparel factories are paying wages at their (owners) whims.
The government had asked the owners to implement the new wage structure from December 1, 2013.
Workers at several apparel factories staged protests in last week as their posts were not included in the new award.
read more.

* Missing posts to be included in new RMG wage structure:

The government has initiated a move to incorporate some posts in the new wage structure for readymade garment (RMG) workers aiming to ensure proper implementation of the wage hike, sources said.

They said some posts were not incorporated in the new wage structure announced in November last and a fresh crisis emerged in fixing the wage hike for those workers.
Following the complaints, the Labour Ministry has asked the Wage Board to hold a meeting with the stakeholders and take necessary steps in this regard.

“Last week we told the Wage Board to take measures to include the posts that were somehow missed during that time,” Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said.
After the Wage Board’s recommendation, the ministry will take action, he added.

The Minimum Wage Board will sit tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the issue and incorporate the missing posts in the wage structure, the Wage Board sources confirmed.
A large number of posts of garment workers, especially in printing, embroidery and washing units in the three to six grades were not included in the new wage structure though we repeatedly pressed for it, Sirajul Islam Rony, president of the Bangladesh Jatiya Garments Sramik Karmachari League, said.
read more. & read more.

20140110-12

GLOBAL

* Op-Ed | Garment Workers Deserve a Global Minimum Wage:

Garment manufacturing is global. But the rules that protect workers are not, creating a race to the bottom amongst poor countries aiming to attract foreign investment with the lowest wages and flimsiest safety standards. In the wake of recent tragedies and protests in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Haiti, it’s time for a global minimum wage, argues Tansy E. Hoskins.

Apparel is one of the world’s oldest, largest and most global export industries. In a world where robots are used to automate many types of manufacturing, garments are still made by hands-on human toil. But fashion and apparel, as an industry, is failing the vast majority of its workers.

The scale of the failure can be seen in the 1,134 deaths at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, the five garment workers recently shot dead in Cambodia and the thousands of workers eeking out a living, all but enslaved in a South Korean factory complex built on the site of the Chambert Post Prison Camp in Haiti.

As a result, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Haiti have all been buffeted by recent protests staged by impoverished garment workers, who have gone on strike, fought pitched street battles with police and burned factories. In each country, their demands are the same: better wages and better working conditions.

Yet, across the board, the protestors have been accused of being traitors, bringing disrepute to their countries, jeopardising the garment manufacturing industries that have taken root there and causing foreign investment to flee.
(…)
Asia Floor Wage is an alliance aiming to ensure garment workers across Asia are paid a living wage. The group’s ‘floor wage’ is calculated using the World Bank’s PPP (purchasing power parity) dollar and buys the same set of goods and services in all countries.
“The Asia Floor Wage is the first time a cross-border agreement and formula has been found. It is a minimum living wage formula agreed upon by Asian garment unions to protect garment workers in the global garment industry,” said Anannya Bhattacharjee of the Garment and Allied Workers Union in India, who is on the Asia Floor Wage’s steering committee.
“We would like to work more closely with our colleagues in Latin America and Africa to develop a minimum living wage that would be applicable to all the Global South.”
read more.

16:15:43 local time MONGOLIA

* MPP demands a 30% minimum wage increase:

The Mongolian People’s Party faction delivered a demand to Prime Minister N.Altankhuyag on Wednesday to raise the minimum wage by 30 percent. The demand states,

“The MPP faction is not satisfied with the operations and policy of the current ruling authorities upon a meeting with representatives of NGOs, civil society, entrepreneurs and well as residents of 21 provinces.
Authorities are defrauding citizens, saying that everything is going to be fine and they just need some time, and are blaming the previous government for all the faults, looking for ways ‘to get water from stone’. A year and a half has passed since the launch of the new government and citizens are losing faith in it.”
read more.

16:15:43 local time CHINA

* Nation’s salary growth strong: Report:

China will see the strongest salary growth among all Asian countries in 2014, even though the nation’s economic growth rate has been slowing down, a report from global human resources firm Hays has said.

According to the 2014 Hays Asia Salary Guide, which was released on Thursday and polled about 2,600 employers across the region, 67 percent of the surveyed Chinese employers said they will increase employees’ salaries above 6 percent, compared with 66 percent last year.

Only 29 percent of polled employers from other Asian countries and regions said there would be a salary increase above six percent in their organizations, with the rate remaining the same as in the previous year.
read more.

15:15:43 local time VIET NAM

* Labour market to see minor wage growth in 2014:

The Vietnamese labour market this year will see just a 6-8 per cent salary increase due to the sluggish economy.

The forecast was made by Nicola Connolly, chairwoman of Eurocham’s Human Resources and Training Sector Committee.
At a press briefing in HCM City yesterday, she said that minimum wage insurance in Q3 of this year is expected to reach VND3.2 million ($152.3).

The outlook for the Vietnamese labour market is contingent on various global trends – high unemployment rates, production shifts, the increasing skills gap and shortage, freelancing become an ever more normal way of life and the internet which is creating a larger marketplace for jobs.
read more.

16:15:43 local time PHILIPPINES

* Labor group seeks TRO on SSS premium hike:

National labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) filed a petition for Temporary Restraining Order Jan 10 against the 0.6-percent increase in Social Security System (SSS) members’ premium contributions.

The questioned hike is set to take effect starting this month.
“Workers are determined to stop the implementation of SSS premium hike. It is an unjust burden imposed by the Aquino government. It will further dig into our pockets just to fill the pockets of big capitalists and corrupt bureaucrats,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general.

Starting January this year, monthly SSS contributions will rise to 11 percent from 10.4 percent.
This means minimum wage earners would have to pay at least P25 ($0.56) more on premium contributions per month.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Stop the violence against Cambodian garment workers:

Cambodian garment workers make around $80 a month, taking on long hours of overtime in harsh conditions.

Now workers across the country are standing up for themselves to demand more – but the fight for a better wage in Cambodia is a dangerous one. This video is to show the workers who are standing up – and the violence that’s consistently employed to keep them quiet.
Photos and video by Heather Stilwell. @HeatherStilwell
see Video.

* Groups Demand Mandatory Minimum Wage, Threaten Protest:

About 100 people, including 20 monks, held a ceremony in Phnom Penh on Friday in memory of the five people killed a week beforehand when military police opened fire on protesting garment workers, and demanded that the government introduce a mandatory, sector-wide standard minimum wage.

In Sen Sok district’s Toek Thla commune, representatives from seven advocacy groups and unions said they stood in solidarity with the garment workers, who are calling for an increase in the minimum wage to $160 per month, but said such a sum should be introduced in other sectors too.

The groups, which included the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community and the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, also called for the release of 23 strikers, activists and union representatives are detained in Kompong Cham province’s maximum security Correctional Center 3 (CC3) after their arrest last week.
read more.

* Committees to ‘Research’ Minimum Wages, ‘Study’ Killings:

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday assigned former Finance Minister Keat Chhon as the head of a newly formed committee tasked with researching the government’s capacity to introduce wage increases for civil servants and factory workers.

In a statement released by the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit, Mr. Hun Sen said that he wants Mr. Chhon to “discuss with related institutions and parties over the possibility for raising salaries and reforming the salary system for civil servants.”

On January 3, military police shot dead five and wounded more than 40 protesting garment factory workers during clashes on Veng Sreng Street after a week of mass demonstrations to demand a monthly minimum wage of $160.
read more.

* Cambodian garment workers return to work; firms sue unions:

Tens of thousands of garment workers have returned to work in Cambodia since a strike for higher pay was put down with deadly force by the authorities last week but employers are now piling up lawsuits against trade unions over the two-week dispute.

The garment makers’ association said most workers had returned to work around the country by Friday although only about 60 percent had shown up at the Canadia Industrial Park in the capital, Phnom Penh, where military police opened fire on January 3, killing three strikers according to the government.

The park is home to factories that make clothes for Western brands such as Adidas AG, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Puma SE.
“The lawsuits will focus on incitement to strike, damage to property and assets, coercion and threatening workers who want to work,” Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), told Reuters.

Khieu Sambo, an attorney representing firms against the six unions involved in the strike, told Reuters that more than 150 factories had filed lawsuits and more were being prepared.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, one of those targeted, said the judiciary was politicised but he would still fight the charges in court.
“They sued us because they want to intimidate us so we won’t strike any more and we won’t help the workers,” he said. “We are not afraid.”
read more.

* World Retailers Want Negotiations in Cambodia Labor Dispute:

Major international clothing companies say they are concerned for the safety of Cambodia’s garment workers and want to see peaceful negotiations between unions, factories and the government.

The workers have been on strike for weeks, calling for the monthly minimum wage to be doubled to $160. The industry employs up to 400,000 people.
Five people were killed, 40 injured and 23 arrested in crackdowns on striking workers and other demonstrators last week. Many laborers have since returned to work but unions are still calling for a raise.

In an unusual move, major international clothing retailers, including H&M, Adidas, Gap, Columbia, Puma and Levi Strauss, this week signed a joint letter decrying violence against workers.
“We strongly oppose any form of violence, and urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to drive negotiations among stakeholders to peacefully resolve this dispute,” Laura Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for Gap, told VOA Khmer in an e-mail.
read more.

20140112 * Big brands must act on Cambodia’s pay crisis:

The protests of Cambodian garment workers which ended in a fatal clash with police early this month highlight the plight of workers who make a significant contribution to the country’s economic success.

The protesters, whose demonstrations bolstered efforts by the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party to challenge prime minister Hun Sen, were demanding an increase in the minimum wage _ which is now US$95 per month (about 3,100 baht) _ to $160.

The demand of another $65 per month to the wage has been turned down by the Hun Sen government and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC). In 2010, the minimum wage was $50 per month.

Needless to say, the Cambodian government wants to maintain the low wage _ the significant factor that makes Cambodia attractive to investors who supply to leading global fashion brands such as Gap and H&M. Over the past decade, many of the world’s fashion labels have shifted their production base for this labour-intensive industry to developing countries. The garment industry is a huge sector that provides jobs to some 30,000 Cambodian workers.
read more.

* Families of Killed and Missing Protesters Compile Complaint:

Family members of striking garment factory workers killed, wounded and missing after military police violently suppressed last Friday’s Veng Sreng Street protests have begun preparing complaints to file with authorities and rights NGOs.

At least five people were shot dead, and more than 40 were injured, after military police armed with AK-47 assault rifles put down a protest of stone-throwing striking workers.

Chiev Panith, 20, the wife of Sam Ravy, who was shot dead by military police, said that she would file a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court seeking an investigation into her husband’s death, and to identify the killer.
read more.

* Lawyers Prevented From Seeing Protest Detainees at CC3:

Lawyers and human rights workers were prevented from entering Kompong Cham province’s Correctional Center 3 (CC3) prison on Thursday when they attempted to meet with some of the 23 protesters, union leaders and garment workers detained last week after protests were lethally suppressed by government forces.

Security at the notorious and remote CC3 prison, which is located near the Vietnamese border, has also been ramped up in recent days, bolstered by the deployment of about 50 soldiers to the facility, lawyers and staff from rights group Adhoc said.

“We are not permitted to meet our clients,” said Muth Piseth, a lawyer hired to defend 10 of the detained strikers who were rounded up by military police at the Canadia Industrial Park in Pur Senchey district’s Veng Sreng Street.
The 10 have been charged with perpetrating intentional violence and causing damage.
read more.

* 100 Factories Suing Unions Behind Strike:

More than 100 factories have now filed lawsuits against the six trade unions behind recent strikes for higher garment worker wages, and a lawyer representing garment manufacturers said Thursday that more suits are likely to come.

The factories accuse the six non-government aligned unions of inciting the protests, which occasionally turned violent and inflicted some damage on their properties. The unions have all denied the accusation and in turn accuse security forces of using excessive force against protesters, killing at least five and injuring 42 demonstrators last week.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court chief clerk Prak Savouth said he has received a slew of complaints since Monday from Khieu Sambo, a lawyer for the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), which represents most of the 500-plus shoe and garment factories in the country.
read more.

* Cambodia unions face court action over strike:

Union leader says judiciary politicised but pledges to fight charges filed by garment-factory owners after two-week row.

Thousands of garment workers have returned to work in Cambodia since a strike for higher pay was put down with deadly force by the authorities last week.

However, employers are now filing cases in courts against trade unions over the two-week dispute.
Khieu Sambo, an attorney representing the firms against the six unions involved in the strike, told Reuters news agency that more than 150 factories had filed cases and more were being prepared.
“The lawsuits will focus on incitement to strike, damage to property and assets, coercion and threatening workers who want to work,” Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said on Friday.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, one of those targeted, said the judiciary was politicised but he would still fight the charges in court.
“They sued us because they want to intimidate us so we won’t strike any more and we won’t help the workers. We are not afraid.”
read more.

* One week later: Coming to terms with Cambodia’s brutal protest crackdown:

A week ago today Cambodian police shot and killed five protesting garment factory employees. In Phnom Penh, workers, activists and labor groups are still struggling to make sense of the violence

Grassroots protestors, folk songs and labor rights activists converged at Canadia Industrial Park in Phnom Penh last week as garment workers campaigned to raise their minimum wage from $80 a month to $160.

After the Ministry of Labor approved a wage increase to $95 a month, trade unions and workers took to the streets, demanding $160. According to rights activists, the approved $95 wage is simply not enough to live on. So the campaign continued, galvanized by the support of Cambodia’s opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which had joined the protest in support.

Yet the peaceful protest ended in riots as the military closed in, shot and killed five garment factory workers and injured over 30 others on January 3. A ban on gatherings of groups larger than 10 has been put in place. Twenty-three protesters and labor leaders were missing for a week after their arrest.
read more.

* Despite bail, 15-year-old still in jail:

A juvenile accused of destroying a police car during a violent strike by SL Garment factory workers in November remained in Prey Sar prison yesterday, despite the Court of Appeal having granted him bail.

Sary Bothchakrya, a lawyer from the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) representing the suspect, said the 15-year-old had been granted bail because he has a history of mental illness, but that he would probably not be released until next week.

“Now he is in the jail while we are completing the bail documents for the court to process,” she said. “He will be released from the jail next week, I think.”

Chim Sambo, 27, a relative of the detained youth, told the Post yesterday that the suspect was not involved in violence between police and factory workers. Police arrested the boy, he continued, while he was collecting scrap metal to sell after the men who burned the police car had already left the scene.
read more.

* Over $1,500 Raised for Paralyzed Protester:

A fundraising effort set up to help the family of Hoeurn Chann, a man left paralyzed after being shot in the spine by a police officer during the SL Garment Factory protest in November, closed Thursday, having raised more than $1,500.

The “Solidarity with Hoeurn Chann” campaign was created by New Zealand expatriate Francesca Eldridge in December to help pay back more than $4,000 in loans the family had accumulated in paying for Mr. Chann’s treatment.
The fundraiser closed at 7 a.m. on the YouCaring website Thursday, having raised $1,515 of its $3,000 goal.

Huon Khon, the victim’s 51-year-old mother, said she was incredibly grateful for the money, which would help offset the 13 million riel (about $3,250) she said the family still owed private lenders.
read more.

* Svay Rieng garment workers fired, suspended:

Due to incorrect information provided to the Post, a previous version of this story reported that Kingmaker (Cambodia) Footwear Co Ltd. fired 200 workers on December 27 for striking. A factory representative said 200 people participated in demonstrations, but were not fired.

Factories in Svay Rieng province’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone have fired or suspended at least 50 workers – and are pursuing legal action against some – for participating in a strike last month that saw some 30,000 walk off the job.

Heads of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) and Cambodian Alliance Trade Union (CATU) told the Post yesterday that 50 members of their unions were dismissed last week.
read more.

* To understand Cambodia’s labor crackdown, open your closet:

A police crackdown on striking garment workers in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, last week left at least four people dead and several others wounded. But they are not the first casualties in the Southeast Asian country’s race to the bottom to prop up the garment industry. Unless things change for the better, they won’t be the last.

Worker unrest has been evident in Cambodia for several years. However, the latest flare-up of violence is not simply a tale about a faraway place where garments make up 80 percent of exports. It is deeply connected to the West. In choosing not to intervene, American and European multinational companies — particularly the top global apparel brands that source their clothes from the country — are enabling both the repression and the mistreatment of garment workers in Cambodia. In fact, these companies are also directly responsible and are well positioned to stop the violence and improve labor conditions.

But they have done very little so far. Seven global clothing companies, including the Swedish retail-clothing company H&M and the San Francisco-based clothier Gap, have publicly condemned the violence and called for a negotiated settlement to the crisis. But they should use their clout with Cambodian authorities to push for higher labor standards and demand an immediate end to the repression.
read more.

* Garment sector economics:

In this week’s interview, the Post’s Hor Kimsay sits down with Hiroshi Suzuki, chief economist at the Business Research Institute for Cambodia (BRIC). Suzuki discusses the debate about minimum wages in the garment sector, strikes and whether increases will hurt Cambodia’s competitiveness.

How much of an effect will the combination of garment strikes, violence and political tensions have on economic growth?
From my point of view regarding macroeconomic growth, the effect is not so big. The economy is driven forward by several kinds of engines, including the garment sector, tourism, agriculture, construction and real estate. The tourism industry is enjoying an increase in visitors. The agriculture and construction sectors are also performance well. Having a look at all these things, we can see that growth in these sectors will support the fundamentals of Cambodia’s economy.

What about the garment sector?
Of course, some of it is affected, because many factories were closed and they could not produce to meet deadlines. Some were damaged. It also could affect the volume of orders from the buyers. But, Cambodia is not alone. Bangladesh, a garment industry country, is facing a big fight because of its recent election. It is fortunate that the economy of the US and EU are recovering.
read more.

* Groups condemn Cambodia worker crackdown:

Several civil society groups handed over a memorandum to the Cambodian embassy today, protesting the neighbouring country’s recent violent crackdown on workers striking for higher wages.

Representatives from Dignity International, Asia Floor Wage Alliance, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor, Committee for Asian Women, Jerit, MTUC, Suaram and Junior Officers Union Tenaga Nasional Berhad submitted the letter to Chhay Kosal, third secretary (Consular and Administration) at the embassy.

“We the undersigned strongly condemn the use of extreme force, violence and arrest to quell garment workers’ strike in Cambodia on Jan 2 and 3, 2014.

“The garment workers’ strike is a legitimate expression of the desperation of garment workers who are crushed under poverty level wages,” the memorandum, endorsed by 17 local and international NGOs as well as Klang MP Charles Santiago and Senator Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, reads.
read more.

* Cambodia: Stop government violence against workers:

This campaign is in solidarity with Cambodian garment workers and unions, who initiated a general strike seeking an increase in minimum wage from US$80 per month to US$160.

The strike was very effective, with many thousands of workers participating, and the employers association (GMAC) called a lockout and urged the government to crack down on the workers.
On January 3, 2014, the government sent military police to attack a demonstration at one of the struck factories, and they opened fire on the demonstration with AK-47 rifles and killed five workers and seriously injured dozens more.
The government has since banned all demonstrations and used military force to clear the streets. At least 39 workers have been detained and are held in unknown locations.
Faced with this brutal repression, the unions have called off the strike and workers are returning to work, although they are continuing to press their demands.
read more and please sign here.

20140109 STOP ATTACK

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* RMG workers block Dhaka-Aricha highway in Manikganj:

The apparel workers blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway for two hours demanding implementation of their new wage structure in Saturia upazila of Manikganj this morning.

Vehicular movement on the highway came to a halt since 9:15am when workers of Tarasima Apparels took position on the road in Nayadingi area of the upazila, reports our Manikganj correspondent.

The commuters suffered a lot as they had to strand on a three kilometres of traffic congestion, said Mashiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Saturia Police Station.

The new wage structure for the readymade garment workers which was passed on November 4 was expected to be implemented by the authorities of all apparel factories from December 1 last year.
read more. & to read.

* Workers being fired only to be hired on contract:

A large number of readymade garment (RMG) factories in the capital and other industrial areas have cut jobs of a segment of their workers blaming it on workers’ unrest and difficulty in implementing new wage structure.

Factory owners, labour leaders and leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have confirmed such job cuts.

Some labour leaders have said the owners are retrenching regular workers in order to create a mechanism for running their factories with workers on contractual basis. Irregular workers lose rights to demand due benefits.
They, however, could not give the actual figure of workers already fired in different factories.
BGMEA President Md. Atiqul Islam said the factory owners are facing a heavy financial burden due to wage hike and prevailing workers’ unrest.

“It’s early to speak about the figure of job cuts in the garment industry. But an owner cannot simply bear the wage hike unless he/she is able to carry on his business without facing any obstacles,” said Mr. Islam.
read more.

* Committee formed to end row over sweater factory worker payment:

The government has taken a move to resolve a prevailing dispute over the payment of piece-rate basis for the sweater factory workers.

The government has recently formed an 11-member committee comprising the representatives from factory owners and workers headed by a joint secretary to identify the problems and decide on the next path of solution, labour ministry officials said.
Labour leaders have been making allegations for long that the sweater factory workers are deprived of legal service benefits like overtime allowances and festival bonuses.

They also demanded hike in piece-rate payment, food and travel allowances for sweater factory workers in accordance with the newly-announced minimum wage for the woven garment factory workers.
Though the sweater factory workers receive their payments based on piece-rate but the rate was not set in the sector.
Usually, owners set the piece-rate for peak and off-peak season every year.
read more.

* RMG workers block Dhaka-Aricha highway in Manikganj:

The apparel workers blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway for two hours demanding implementation of their new wage structure in Saturia upazila of Manikganj this morning.

Vehicular movement on the highway came to a halt since 9:15am when workers of Tarasima Apparels took position on the road in Nayadingi area of the upazila, reports our Manikganj correspondent.

The commuters suffered a lot as they had to strand on a three kilometres of traffic congestion, said Mashiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Saturia Police Station.

* RMG workers stage demo for govt-fixed wages in Manikganj:

Workers of a ready-made garment factory blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway in Saturia upazila on Saturday demanding that they be paid government-fixed wages.

Police and locals said authorities of ‘Tarasima Apparels’ situated at Nayadangi were paying their workers less than the wages recently fixed by the government.
Protesting the deprivation by the factory management, over 100 workers went on a work abstention on Saturday morning and staged demonstrations.
read more. & read more. & read more.

* Savar RMG workers demonstrate demanding new salaries:

Several hundred garment workers of different factories in Savar demonstrated yesterday demanding salaries under the new pay scale and protesting sacking of their colleagues.

Workers of Mtranet Group at Rajashon demonstrated at the factory gate and also formed a human chain at the Rana Plaza site.
The demonstrating workers claimed that authorities sacked at least 70 workers since December 18.
Lavli Yesmin, a sewing machine operator of Mtranet Group, claimed management forced the workers to resign as they had earlier demonstrated demanding salaries under the new pay scale.
Later, the agitated workers formed a human chain under the banner of Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation.
Mtranet Group authorities were contacted by The Daily Star but they refused make comments.
Meanwhile, workers of printing section of HR Textile in Karnapara of Savar observed work abstention also demanding salaries under the new pay scale.
In Ashulia, workers of Medler Apparels Ltd also observed work abstention with a similar demand.
to read.

20140108-09

16:15:43 local time CHINA

* Gov’t campaign to ensure migrant workers’ wages:

The Chinese government on Monday launched a wages overhaul to ensure that millions of migrant workers from the country’s rural regions get properly paid before they return home for a major traditional Chinese holiday.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in a statement that five working teams will be sent to eight provinces including Zhejiang and Hubei to inspect employers’ salary payments to migrant workers as well as local governments’ related supervisory work.

The statement said that the campaign will urge local authorities to take effective measures to ensure migrant workers get paid in full before the Spring Festival, which falls on Jan. 31.
According to the statement, 10 ministries are participating in this campaign.

Violations by employers such as wage deductions and delays are an old problem in China that has pressed the government to conduct such a yearly overhaul in recent years to protect workers’ rights.
read more.

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

* Silence broken at last:

Men detained by military police lie on the ground with their hands bound at the scene of deadly clashes on Veng Sreng Boulevard on Friday. RFA

Notification that her son is being detained at Correctional Centre 3 in Kampong Cham came as a relief to Touch Sart yesterday, after spending nearly a week wondering whether he was even alive.

Since her son, Theng Saroeun, was arrested along with 22 others at demonstrations last Thursday and Friday, police, court and prison officials have refused to confirm the identities or whereabouts of those detained. After six days of silence, prison officials yesterday finally allowed family members, lawyers and a doctor to visit them.

“My son is badly hurt, he was beaten seriously and could not eat,” Sart said. “He received seven stitches.”

The fact that they have spent nearly a week of detention without access to their families or lawyers – a violation of defendants’ rights in Cambodia – and held in an isolated prison far from their Phnom Penh homes indicates the government’s strong desire to keep them cut off from supporters, Naly Pilorge, director of rights group Licadho, said.

The defendants – one of them a 17-year-old – were arrested on Thursday and Friday amid protests in Por Sen Chey district. Ten were arrested during a rally in front of Yakjin (Cambodia) Inc on Thursday, after, witnesses said, military officials guarding the factory initiated clashes with demonstrators.
read more.

* Twenty-Three Arrested Protesters Held in Kompong Cham Prison:

After refusing for days to disclose the location of 23 protesters arrested last week and then charged in court, prison officials revealed Wednesday that the group is being held in a notorious jail in Kompong Cham province.

Ten people were arrested on Thursday and a further 13 were arrested on Friday during protests by striking workers that saw at least five people shot dead by military police.

Keo Sovanna, chief of Kompong Cham’s Correctional Center 3 (CC3), confirmed speculation earlier this week by rights groups Adhoc and Licadho that the 23 protesters—who have not yet been convicted of any crime—are being held at his maximum security jail.

“We’ve detained them in the same building [here], since we don’t have the rooms available to detain them separately,” he said.
read more.

* As Strikers Return to Work, Factories Sue Garment Unions:

As garment workers continued to return to their factories Wednesday after several days of strikes that turned deadly last week, some of their employers have wasted no time in suing the unions behind the strikes, demanding compensation.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court chief clerk Prak Savouth said five factories had already lodged complaints against the unions, but would not say which factories filed the suits or which unions had been targeted for legal action.

“We received complaints from five factories,” he said, before referring further questions to Khieu Sambo, a lawyer for the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC).
Mr. Sambo confirmed that factory owners had lodged complaints, but declined to provide details.

On Tuesday, GMAC Secretary-General Ken Loo said lawsuits might target all six of the nongovernment-aligned unions it has already publicly accused of inciting violence among the striking garment workers. Those protests peaked when military police shot into crowds of stone-throwing protesters outside a Phnom Penh factory on Friday, killing five and wounding more than 40. GMAC chairman Van Sou Ieng said he was not familiar with the details of the lawsuits, but estimated that 50 or more factories were availing of his association’s lawyers to sue the six unions, and that more could join the suits.
read more.

* Strikers fired in Svay Rieng:

Garment workers strike in front of Kingmaker’s factory in Svay Rieng province, demanding higher minimum wages in December. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Factories in Svay Rieng province’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone have fired or suspended more than 200 workers – and are pursuing legal action against some – for participating in a strike last month that saw some 30,000 walk off the job.

An accountant at Kingmaker (Cambodia) Footwear Co, Ltd – which supplies to California-based Skechers USA Inc – confirmed they fired 200 workers on December 27, while heads of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) and Cambodian Alliance Trade Union (CATU) told the Post yesterday that 50 members of their unions were dismissed last week.

“The accusation is not right, because we did nothing wrong,” said Chorn Thieng, a factory worker in the economic zone who said he was suspended and is earning half his regular pay until a lawsuit his factory filed against him reaches court. “We just demanded [a $160 minimum monthly wage], and we still demand it.”

Workers at factories in the Manhattan and Tay Seng Special Economic Zone in Svay Rieng province started striking for a minimum wage hike – from the current government mandate of $75 plus a $5 health bonus – a week before a larger collection of unions called for an industry-wide strike on December 24.
read more.

* For Workers, Wage Rise Is Shift From Surviving to Thriving:

Sous Sary, a 31-year-old garment worker, works two hours of overtime every day in order to earn enough to live even the most spartan of lifestyles on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

For three simple meals per day, she spends $2.50. On some days, she allows herself to indulge in a few small pieces of meat, spending $5. She pays another $20 in rent and $15 for water and electricity each month, all for a 2.5-by-2.5-meter wooden room in Pur Senchey district with no bathroom or running water. Ms. Sary and her husband, a part-time laborer, cannot afford a mattress or sheets for the wooden bed they share.

Ms. Sary, who sews trousers at the Bright Sky factory in Dangkao district, says her basic monthly expenses alone total $130, while the minimum monthly wage in the garment sector is just $80, meaning that working overtime, while technically optional, is in reality obligatory for her.

Along with hundreds of thousands of other garment workers, Ms. Saray went on strike this week seeking a raise in the minimum wage from $80 to $160 per month. Factory owners have insisted that workers’ demands cannot be met, calling the latter figure so high that it would put them out of business. The government has tried to compromise by offering $100.

But for Ms. Sary, the difference between the government’s offer and the workers’ demand is not just mathematical: It is the difference between barely surviving and being able to put some money aside to send her only child, an 8-year-old boy, to college. Her dream is for the boy to grow up and become a doctor, but she knows this goal is out of reach for the son of a garment worker, so she clings to the hope that he will one day be a nurse.
read more.

* Fashion Backward: Cambodian Government Silences Garment Workers:

“Cambodian garment workers have two handcuffs and one weapon [against them]. One handcuff is a short-term contract [10 hours a day, six days a week]. Even if they get sick, if they get pregnant they feel they have to get an abortion so they don’t lose their jobs.

“The second handcuff is the low wage,” Tola Moeun, head of the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC), which advocates for workers rights, told IPS from the organisation’s headquarters on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. “The weapon used against them is violence, both mental and physical.”
About 90 percent of garment workers are young women, mostly in their teens and twenties.

His words, which came just days before mass protests broke out in the Cambodian capital, proved prophetic as garment workers took to the streets Dec. 24 until their demonstrations were brutally quashed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s private military the first weekend in January, resulting in five fatalities and over 30 serious injuries.

In the days leading up to the protest, the Labour Ministry had approved an increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, from 80 to 95 dollars a month. But trade unions and workers protested, saying it was not enough to live on, and demanded a monthly minimum wage of 160 dollars.

Chrek Sophea, interim coordinator of the Workers’ Information Centre (WIC), which helps factory workers organise, told IPS workers cannot survive on the government’s proposed wage, and that it is in violation of Cambodia’s labour laws.
read more.

* Conflicting Figures on Number of Slain at Garment Protest:

The opposition CNRP has placed the number of striking garment factory workers shot dead by military police at Friday’s protest in Phnom Penh at six, party President Sam Rainsy said Wednesday.

The number is one higher than the five deaths reported by staff at three hospitals in Phnom Penh to journalists on Tuesday and two victims more than the figure collected by local rights group Licadho.
Mr. Rainsy released a list of six names on his Facebook page Wednesday, adding Kheng Kosol, 23, to a list of those killed by military police that the CNRP had compiled by Sunday.
The names of some of the deceased or their spellings as well as their ages also differed.
read more.

* Clothes Made in Cambodia Are Tainted in Blood:

By Mu Sochua

I write in response to the unethical remarks made by the leadership of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) reported in your article published on Tuesday “Garment Strike Cost Industry $200 Million, GMAC Says.”

For days, local and foreign newspapers showed video clips and images on social media of the armed military police used to crack down on the striking workers. From blood-stained clothes to injured workers begging for mercy, the obvious and undeniable fact is the way the crackdown was conducted. With AK-47 assault rifles in hands, the aim was not just to disperse a crowd but it was clearly aiming to kill.

Five workers were killed and close to 30 others were wounded on January 3 during the heavy confrontation at the Canadia Industrial Zone. The leadership of GMAC called it “collateral damage” and described the use of lethal weapons by the military police as “absolutely” appropriate.
read more.

* GMAC Doesn’t Support Violence to End Industrial Disputes:

By Ken Loo

I refer to the article “GMAC Defends Use of Force Against Striking Workers” published on Monday, which did not fairly reflect the views and position of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC).

It starts out by claiming that GMAC “endorsed the use of deadly force by military police against striking workers.” This contradicts a later paragraph in which I was quoted as saying “GMAC condemns the use of violence, period. However, I think that the police had to respond to break up the rioters, and the rioters were not responding to verbal warnings.”

I feel that the quote was taken out of context and that it has misrepresented our position. When asked if I thought that the military police had responded appropriately by firing live rounds, I had replied that firstly, we should be clear to distinguish striking workers and this group of rioters. In this case, the rioters had engaged in violent activities including breaking down of factory gates and doors, intimidating and forcing workers who were working to leave work. They had also destroyed a clinic and were burning up roadside stalls. We also witnessed numerous attempts to try and break into garment factories.
read more.

* Cambodia’s Garment Industry Dilemma:

Cambodia is in the very early days of industrialisation. Assembly work, such as stitching garments together are typical examples of the type of work at this stage, as surplus labour moves out of the countryside and into towns and cities looking for cash-based incomes.

The work is comparatively uncomplicated, appropriate to the skill levels of these new industrial workers but also involves long hours on low wages.

This is because wages are generally set internationally rather than locally, and from an international perspective, wages in Cambodia are comparatively high for this industry. In Bangladesh, the minimum wage has just been raised to $US68 a month from $38 a month, whereas it was already $US80 here in Cambodia, and is about to rise to $US100 – effectively putting contract garment manufacturers here who largely compete on price at a disadvantage.

The cynical ploy by the opposition NRP therefore, to encourage these workers to risk it all just so these politician’s can get their hands on the levers of power, is especially lamentable under circumstances where itinerant garment manufacturers could easily decide that Cambodia was becoming too difficult and relocate elsewhere.
read more.

* UN rights body seeks probe into shootings:

The United Nations yesterday urged the government to launch an investigation into the recent deadly violence by security forces against striking garment workers, ahead of next week’s visit by the special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi.

“We are following the situation in Cambodia with serious concern and are deeply alarmed by the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials in responding to demonstrations,” Robert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

“We urge the Cambodian authorities to launch a prompt and thorough investigation and to ensure full accountability of members of security forces found to have used disproportionate and excessive force,” he added.
read more. & read more.

* SL protester, 15, released after months:

A juvenile suspect held on charges of violence and criminal damage for his part in the SL Garment workers strike last November has been released on bail.

The 15-year-old suspect was released under court supervision yesterday, after an appeal was launched against his pre-trial detention.
A lawyer for the prosecution, who wished to remain anonymous, said the youth suffered from mental illness.
“He has a mental problem, and he is a juvenile,” she said. “We wait to discuss with the attorney whether we should keep filing against him or not.”
read more.

* Workers in Russey Keo return to work after weeks of strike:

Thousands of workers from 58 factories in Russey Keo district returned to work as usual today after recent weeks of strike to demand wage increase.

Almost 100 percent of the workers in the area go to work and the situation returned to normalcy.
Last month, workers started the strikes throughout the country to demand that wage be raised to USD160 per month, up from USD 80 per month.
The government then increased to USD 100 per month starting from February 2014. Six labor union leaders are still not satisfied with the increase.
to read.

* Gap to H&M Urge Talks to End Cambodian Workers’ Pay Clash:

Apparel makers including Gap Inc. (GPS), Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB) and Inditex SA (ITX) called on Cambodia’s government, its garment industry and unions to hold talks after a strike over workers’ pay led to deadly clashes.

The government, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia and labor unions should engage in negotiations and support a new wage-review mechanism to avoid future violence, the retailers said in an open letter yesterday. Adidas AG (ADS), Puma SE (PUM), Levi Strauss & Co. and Columbia Sportswear Co. (COLM) also signed the letter.

At least three people were killed when police used live ammunition to crush a protest by striking garment workers in Phnom Penh, the Cambodia Daily reported Jan. 3, citing the police. The protesters were part of a nationwide strike by garment workers demanding a doubling of the minimum wage to $160 a month, while the government offered $100.

“Our primary concerns are for the security and safety of the workers employed by our suppliers and the long-term stability of the Cambodian garment industry,” the companies said in the letter. “The only way to resolve this dispute is to cease all forms of violence, and for stakeholders to enter into good-faith negotiations.”
read more.

* Rare gov’t insight in Korea docs:

Documents removed from the South Korean embassy’s Facebook page following a media firestorm over that nation’s alleged role in last week’s violence provide unprecedented insight into the Cambodian government’s thinking prior to the crackdown and suggest officials initially aimed to take a “cautious” approach.

Accused in recent days of leaning on the government to forcefully crack down on striking garment workers to protect South Korean-owned factories, the South Korean embassy yesterday vehemently denied the allegations, saying such claims were “ill-intentioned” and based on false information.

In several international media reports published this week, South Korea stood accused of urging the Cambodian government to send soldiers and police to protect business interests. But an embassy representative said yesterday that South Korean officials met with army and police representatives on Saturday – after the brutal crackdown on demonstrators on Thursday and Friday by authorities that left at least four dead and scores injured.
read more.

* South Korean Embassy Denies Role in Strike Suppression:

The South Korean Embassy on Wednesday denied a news report that it had lobbied Cambodian military authorities to “crack down on protesters” in a bid to shield Korean investments in the garment industry, prior to Friday’s killing of five protesters and the wounding of more than 40 others by military police officers.

A story published late Tuesday by the U.S.-based GlobalPost news service cited a statement by the South Korean Embassy—posted online in Korean—in which embassy staff allegedly said that they had asked the Cambodian military to “act swiftly” in protecting factories owned by their citizens.

According to GlobalPost, in the statement on Monday, “the South Korean Embassy took credit for convincing the Cambodian government to ‘understand the seriousness of this situation and act swiftly.’ It cited high-level lobbying over the past two weeks as contribution to the ‘success’ of protecting business interests.”
read more.

* BetterFactories Media Updates 28 December 2013- 9 January 2014, Wages and widespread strike in Cambodian garment industry:

* To read in the printed edition of the Phnom Penh Post:
2013-12-30 CNRP calls a timeout
2013-12-30 CNRP timeout on marches
2013-12-31 Take it or leave it offer
2014-01-01 Extra 5 dollars won’t woo workers
2014-01-01 Workers out, deadlines loom
2014-01-03 Strike violence erupts
2014-01-06 Cambodia’s garment to ship piece to piece
2014-01-06 Canadia park, a ghost town
2014-01-06 Exodus follows violent clash
2014-01-06 Picking up the pieces
2014-01-06 Veng Sreng’s voices
2014-01-07 For families of 23 arrested silence
2014-01-07 ICC complaint to lay shootings at PM’s feet
2014-01-07 Ministry too busy to sit down with unions
2014-01-07 Wage fight to wound key sector
2014-01-08 Garment manufacturers planning to sue unions
2014-01-08 ILO doubts bleak garment outlook
2014-01-08 Millions in damages sought
2014-01-09 Rare gov’t insight in Korea docs
2014-01-09 Silence broken at last
2014-01-09 SL protester 15, released after months
2014-01-09 Strikers fired over Svay Rieng
2014-01-09 UN rigths body seeks probe into shootings

* To read in the printed edition of the Cambodia Daily:
2013-12-28-29 Defense minister warns protesters against blocking streets
2013-12-28-29 Workers block roads, vow further strikes
2013-12-30 Factories closed until safety guaranteed
2013-12-30 Reasons why Cambodian protesters must remain nonviolent
2013-12-30 UN Rights Envoy urges calm amid protests
2013-12-30 Workers’ 160 dollars demand not excessive, simply necessary
2013-12-31 Gov’t unveils legal plan to break garment industry strike
2013-12-31 Some factories stay open despite GMAC’s call for shutdown
2014-01-01 Amid strikes, minister raises minimum wage to $100
2014-01-02 Unions to bring demonstrations to factory gates
2014-01-03 Paratroopers deployed at Garment protest 15 detained, injured
2014-01-04-05 Court charges protesters as supporters, police scuffle
2014-01-04-05 Military police kill 5 during clash with demonstrators
2014-01-04-05 Police free detained monks, rights workers
2014-01-04-05 UN, Union and City Hall meet to discuss how to resolve protest violence
2014-01-06 After deadly clashes, garment workers flee Veng Sreng street
2014-01-06 Five killed during protest confirmed as garment workers
2014-01-06 GMAC defends use of force against striking workers
2014-01-06 Government blasted for eviction of freedom park
2014-01-07 Flouting law, government holds protest prisioners incognito
2014-01-07 Garment strike cost industry $200 millions, GMAC says
2014-01-07 Government finds denialability in district security force
2014-01-07 Military police deny their bullets killed five protesters
2014-01-07 Police block, search garment worker’s vans in Svay Rieng
2014-01-08 Arrested protesters’ whereabouts still unknown
2014-01-08 Rights groups condemn killing of protesters
2014-01-08 Teachers to recommence strike for higher wage
2014-01-08 Unions tell garment workers to suspend strike
2014-01-08 Wounded recount rampage by military police
2014-01-09 As strikers return work, factories sue garment unions factories
2014-01-09 Authorities begin to clamp down on striking teachers
2014-01-09 Businesses assess damage from clashes along Veng Sreng street
2014-01-09 Clothes made in Cambodia are tainted in blood
2014-01-09 Conflicting figures on number of slain at garment protest
2014-01-09 Crushing protests, CPP has abandoned constitution
2014-01-09 For nonviolence to prevail over brutality, discipline is needed
2014-01-09 For workers, wage rise is shift from surviving to thriving
2014-01-09 GMAC doesn’t support violence to end industrial disputes
2014-01-09 International condemnation grows in wake of deadly clash
2014-01-09 South Korean embassy denies role in strike suppression
2014-01-09 Twenty-three arrested protesters held in Kampong Cham prison

* To read in the printed edition of the Koh Santepheap Daily (Khmer):
2014-01-06 Cambodian National Union Council calls for legal right protection for workers not participating in strikes
2014-01-06 Clashes on Veng Srey immensely damage
2014-01-06 Open letter from workers calling for workers to go back to work and stop following incitement

* To read in the printed edition of the Rasmei Kampuchea Daily (Khmer):
2014-01-04 About 80 percent of factories starts operating
2014-01-04 Clashes along Veng Sreng 4 killed at least 30 injured 11 arrested
2014-01-04 CNRP’s mass demonstration is waiting for the decision from Ministry of Interior
2014-01-04 Ministry to discuss with 5 unions presidents on 8 January
2014-01-04 Workers destroyed Independent Clinic along Veng Srey road
2014-01-04 Workers go back to their homeland after unrest

BetterFactories Media Updates Overview here.

14:15:43 local time BANGLADESH

* Ctg EPZ workers agitate for newly hiked wages:

Workers in the Chittagong EPZ and Karnaphuli EPZ today demonstrated in the morning demanding payment of salary as per new wage board.

They alleged that a few industries in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone and Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone did not pay workers’ wages for last December as per new wage board awarded by the government.

The demonstrations lasted more than three hours before reaching a compromise in the tripartite meeting.

Workers’ leaders said the workers of the Usebio, JMF and Global garments manufacturing factory in the CEPZ assembled in front of their respective factories without joining their duties in the morning and chanted slogans against their managements claiming they were not being paid wages as per wage board award announced by the government in consultation with the BGMEA leaders.

Earlier on Tuesday evening the workers of Young International, RTT and Al Salam garments in the CEPZ and Bencot in the KEPZ demonstrated in front of their factories demanding payment as per new structure from December 2013.
read more.

* RMG workers’ clash hurt 5 in Manikganj:

At least five people were injured in a clash between two groups of a readymade garment factory in Nayadingee area under Saturia upazila of the district on Thursday morning over due lunch bill.

The incident took place near to Dhaka-Aricha highway at around 8:00am.
Sources said workers of Tarashema readymade garment factory used to get Tk600 as monthly lunch bill but the bill was not paid in this month.
Over the issue, two groups of workers locked into altercation. At one stage, a clash erupted between the groups, leaving five injured.
The injured were rushed to Manikganj Sadar Hospital.
to read.

13:45:43 local time INDIA

* Minimum wage norm only for state units: Bhupinder Singh Hooda:

Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told industry captains in the city on Tuesday the increased minimum monthly wage of Rs 8,100 he had announced for unskilled labourers was meant only for state-owned industrial units.

Interestingly, Haryana government officials have already initiated the wage revision process after the announcement, with the state labour and employment minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma recently saying those not paying minimum wages to workers would be penalized.
read more.

20140108

15:15:43 local time CAMBODIA

20140101 $160
“Solidarity for #MW160KH”

* Cambodian garment workers dying for a pay rise:

Cambodian workers demanding higher wages to toil in factories making Gap jeans and Nike trainers have found themselves on the frontline of a bloody crackdown on dissent by strongman premier Hun Sen.

Months of peaceful protests by opposition supporters demanding new elections have posed little threat to Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest-serving leaders.

But when striking factory workers began to join forces with the opposition, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) responded swiftly with at least four workers shot dead and dozens wounded by security forces.

The tough tactics reflect the potent political force represented by the hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers who stitch the clothes and footwear worn by many in the West.

“If the two streams of protest had been allowed to merge — political opponents and striking workers — they would have presented a threat of enormous magnitude to the Hun Sen regime,” said Cambodia expert Carl Thayer.
read more. & to read.

* Unions Tell Garment Workers to Suspend Strike:

Unions behind last week’s garment factory strikes said their members had largely gone back to work this week, although they have not ruled out resuming protests for a higher minimum wage later this month.

Tens of thousands of workers went on strike starting on December 24 to demand a doubling of the industry’s monthly minimum wage to $160, forcing several of the country’s 500-plus factories to shut down and many more to scale back production.

The strike turned deadly when military police opened fire directly into crowds of stone and petrol bomb-throwing demonstrators outside a Phnom Penh factory on Friday, killing at least five and wounding more than 40.

But as of Monday, some 80 percent of garment workers in Phnom Penh and more than half the workers in the provinces were back at their factories, said Chheng Lang, vice president of the National Independent Federation of Textile Unions in Cambodia (NIFTUC), one of the six unions behind the strikes.
read more.

* Rights Groups Condemn Killing of Protesters:

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), along with local rights groups Licadho and Adhoc, denounced the Friday shooting of protesting garment workers by police in a joint statement released in Paris on Monday.

“The killing of demonstrators by government authorities is totally unacceptable. The government must use dialogue, not guns and batons, to address workers’ demands and to deal with political dissent,” FIDH president Karim Lahidhi said in the statement.

On Friday morning, military police opened fire on a group of garment factory workers protesting for a higher minimum wage. The protesters had blocked a street in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district and were throwing stones at military police who responded with AK-47 live rounds, killing five people and injuring dozens.
read more.

* UN rights office alarmed by Cambodia crackdown:

The United Nations’ human rights office Tuesday said it was alarmed by Cambodia’s crackdown on protests against strongman premier Hun Sen, and urged the authorities to show restraint.

“We are following the situation in Cambodia with serious concern and are deeply alarmed by the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials in responding to demonstrations,” said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
read more.

* Cambodia garment worker strike unravels:

National strike demanding higher wages has ended after crackdown, but union activists predict continued tension.

An eerie silence came over the Canadia Industrial Park area on the outskirts of Phnom Penh on Friday afternoon, minutes after soldiers fired automatic rifles into crowds of demonstrators supporting a nationwide garment worker strike.

Gunfire killed at least four people and injured dozens more, in an unprecedented crackdown on demonstrators ten days after a coalition of labour unions called for a national strike against Cambodia’s garment factories. The violence followed a Ministry of Labour announcement that the industry’s minimum monthly wage would be raised to $95 in 2014, less than the $160 that unions demanded.
The ministry later modified the decision, upping garment workers’ 2014 minimum wage to $100 per month.

“It’s beyond my belief they would react like that,” Kong Athit, vice president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said of the shootings.
read more.

* South Korea pulled strings as Cambodia’s military cracked down on protesters:

Conspiracy theorists frequently accuse rich countries of “puppeteering” in the developing world, quietly pushing governments to deploy thugs to protect wealthy — and sometime abusive-corporations.

There is truth to this, but it’s rare to uncover on-the-ground examples of how this string-pulling works.
Cambodia’s current conflict over garment wages provides one such example, GlobalPost has learned.

In recent months, the impoverished Southeast Asian country has been enmeshed in a series of strikes involving garment workers who stitch clothes for Western brands. Workers are demanding a doubling of the minimum wage, saying they can’t live on their current $80 monthly income.
Late last week the government responded with a violent crackdown. Elite units wielding Chinese-made weapons, batons, and steel pipes chased protesters through the streets. Five were killed and dozens were injured.

Although the garments are destined for the US, Europe and Japan, South Korean companies reap much of the financial gain, playing the role of middleman between laborers and Western brands. Korean-owned factories employ legions of low-wage workers, churning out clothing for fashion-hungry markets. In 2012, Seoul was the largest investor in the country with $287 million in projects, beating out its behemoth of a neighbor, China.
read more.

* South Korean garment industry urged Cambodia to act on striking workers:

South Korean embassy officials and factory workers had direct contact with the security forces behind the violent dispersal of striking garment factory workers near the Cambodian capital last week.

A possible motivation for the sudden confrontations outside Phnom Penh emerged via a South Korean embassy statement released, and now deleted, on Facebook.
A two-week garment workers’ strike was violently broken by police and military firing into protesting crowds on Friday, leading to the deaths of up to five people.

In a statement released Monday on the Facebook page of the South Korean Embassy in Cambodia, officials detailed pleas to both the ministries in Hun Sen’s ruling government and the key opposition party led by Sam Rainsy.
In a translation obtained by the ABC from its original Korean, the Facebook post, since removed from the site, said embassy staff had actively engaged Cambodian police and military to protect South Korean assets.
read more.

* Cambodian Authorities must Reveal Whereabouts of Detainees Immediately:

Family members, lawyers and independent medical professionals have been denied information about the location of detention of 23 people arrested during recent brutal crackdowns in Phnom Penh.

Those arrested include at least three human rights defenders, Vorn Pao, Theng Soveoun and Chan Putisak.

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC) are calling on authorities to disclose information about their whereabouts and grant immediate access to them.

Since the 23 appeared in court to be charged on Friday and Saturday there has been no news about their location or medical condition Some of those arrested were savagely beaten during their arrest and are in urgent need of medical care. There is one juvenile amongst those held.
Most are young garment factory workers, many under the age of thirty.

“We are extremely concerned for the health and personal safety of all those held,” said Naly Pilorge, LICADHO Director. “Immediate and regular access to families, doctors and lawyers is a key safeguard against torture and ill- treatment. Right now these men have no access to the outside world and in the current climate anything could happen. Authorities need to put an immediate end to this secrecy.”
read more.

* Police still mum on protesters:

The whereabouts of 23 people arrested last week during a crackdown on demonstrations in Por Sen Chey district remained unknown yesterday, with prison officials and police refusing to divulge the information to family members and rights groups.

After contacting 18 prisons, the staff at all of which said the prisoners were not in their facilities, rights group Licadho has narrowed down their current location to three prisons, Naly Pilorge, the NGO’s director, said.
Citing “credible information”, Pilorge said the defendants are likely in Correctional Centre 1 in Phnom Penh, Correctional Centre 3 in Kampong Cham or Correctional Centre 4 in Pursat.

Moeun Tola, head of the Community Legal Education Center’s labour program, said on Monday that the director of CC3 confirmed to an associate that the 23 prisoners were there.
But when asked about the prisoners’ whereabouts yesterday, CC3 chief Chea Vanna would only refer a Post reporter to Kouy Bunson, director of the General Department of Prisons.
Bunson could not be reached.
to read.

* Arrested Protesters’ Whereabouts Still Unknown:

Prison and judicial officials on Tuesday continued to conceal the whereabouts of 23 people who were arrested during protests by striking garment workers in Phnom Penh last week, rights workers and a defense lawyer said.

Ten people, including union leaders and political activists, were arrested by soldiers on Thursday. A further 13 were arrested by military police on Friday during the suppression of a protest that saw five striking workers shot dead.

Am Sam Ath, senior investigator with rights group Licadho, said the family and lawyers of those detained were still being refused their requests for any information.
read more.

* Flash News: Confirmation of 23 detained arrestees held in CC3 Prison:

At 10 am, Sem Sakola, a Phnom Penh investigation judge, called LICADHO lawyers to confirm that six clients arrested and charged during the violent crackdown of garment protesters in the Canadia Industrial Area on Veng Sreng Road last week are being held in CC3 prison.

The six clients include Vorn Pao, president of union Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), Theng Savoeun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer’s Community (CCFC), and Chan Puthisak, a land activist from Boeung Kak Lake.

As well, the CC3 prison director has permitted a LICADHO doctor to treat all 23 individuals this afternoon. CC3 prison is an isolated prison located two hours from Kampong Cham town northeast of the capital, Phnom Penh. As of December 2013, CC3 prison held 1,496 male prisoners.
to read.

* Garment manufacturers planning to sue unions:

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia is helping its members sue several unions for damages after a walkout over demands to raise the minimum wage to $160.

Ken Loo, GMAC’s secretary general, said that more than 150 members are jumping on board to sue: “And the numbers keep on going up.”
The association claims that strikes over wages, which started in late December and are winding down now, cost factories more than $200 million in profits. The six unions at the centre of the dispute are all targets of the legal action. Many did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment.

Hundreds of factories were shuttered during the strike, which reached its nadir when military police killed at least four workers on Friday during a protest outside the Canadia Industrial Park in Phnom Penh.
Loo added that some suits had already been filed, but did not specify amounts of damages sought. GMAC’s plan to sue was discussed on the official page of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Monday in a post that also claimed South Korean garment manufacturers are backing the suit.

Arrests were made outside a South Korean-owned garment factory on Thursday, and the administrator of Canadia Industrial Park said yesterday that two South Korean companies work in the zone.
read more.

* ILO doubts bleak garment outlook:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) yesterday cast doubt on the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia’s (GMAC) bleak outlook for the rest of 2014, after the association claimed that deadly violence sparked by wage disputes would result in clothing brands reducing future orders.

Speaking from Bangkok, Maurizio Bussi with the ILO’s office for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, said that the industry will grow at a sustained pace, and that any financial impact will only be short term, despite GMAC’s numbers.

Cautioning that comparisons between countries are difficult to make, Bussi cited the world’s second-largest garment producing nation, Bangladesh, as a place that had continued to prosper despite major tensions.
read more.

* Millions in damages sought:

In the aftermath of violent clashes between authorities and demonstrators last week, business owners in the area have lodged 20 complaints with Por Sen Chey district police, collectively claiming millions of dollars in damages.

In their complaints, owners of factories, shops and other businesses along Veng Sreng Boulevard and near Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, where clashes occurred, blame protesters for the destruction and demand those responsible compensate them for their losses, Por Sen Chey district police chief Yim Sarann said.
“We are working on this and checking on the complaints filed now, before sending them to Phnom Penh Municipal Court for further review,” Sarann said.
read more.

* Cambodia’s garment industry faces Bangladesh-like risks:

Cambodia’s garment industry is following in Bangladesh’s footsteps in the way social and political problems are starting to erode a low-cost labor advantage.

o far, the killing of at least four garment wage protesters on Friday by military police has not grabbed international headlines as dramatically as the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. But the potential exists for a larger global outcry as security forces appear to be growing less inhibited about using deadly force. At a minimum, the industry faces ongoing disruptions as political and labor protests grow more intertwined.

Our correspondent in Phnom Penh recently spoke with an International Labor Organization economist, who argued that the factory collapse in Bangladesh was a game-changer for many people in the industry in that social and safety issues became almost as important as things like making deadlines, quality, and wages. “I think Cambodia is just starting to wake up to that issue” of Western labels worried about reputational risk, our correspondent says.

“But after these shootings happened, it’s not like buyers stepped forward and said, ‘That’s it, we’re cancelling three orders from this factory.’” Even when companies do cancel, our correspondent notes, they usually make the decision quietly.
read more. & read more.

16:15:43 local time MALAYSIA

* Manpower Department Outlines Rules On Employment Of Foreign Workers:

The Peninsular Malaysia Manpower Department on Wednesday issued a reminder to employers on the rules governing the employment of foreign workers.

Its director-general, Mohd Jeffrey Joakim, said in a statement that employers are required to notify the department within 14 days of employing a foreign worker or face legal action for failing to do so.

Errant employers can be charged under the Employment (Amendment) Act 2011 which came into force on April 1, 2012, and provides for a fine of up to RM10,000, he said.
read more.
BERNAMA

20140107

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

20140101 $160
“Solidarity for #MW160KH”

* For families of 23 arrested: silence:

Seven men detained by military police lay on the ground with their hands bound at the scene of deadly clashes on Veng Sreng Boulevard on Friday. RFA

When Prak Sovanny asked prosecutors where she could find her husband, detained since his arrest at a protest on Thursday, they told her to ask police. When she inquired with police, they insisted that prosecutors, not police, had that information.

Sovanny’s husband, Vorn Pao, president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), is one of 23 people arrested last week when police cracked down on demonstrations supporting a nationwide garment worker strike. But days after their arrest, which came amid a police shooting that killed at least four, the families of those imprisoned remain unable to contact their loved ones.

“We see the Cambodian government, at the moment, is going away from rule of law,” said Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center, noting that defendants have a legal right to contact their families. “There is no rule of law; they just claim rule of law.”

The 23 defendants are believed to be at Correctional Centre 3 in Kampong Cham, according to Tola – who said CC3’s chief confirmed this to an associate Tola declined to name – and rights group Licadho, which called the facility “one of the harshest prisons in Cambodia”.
read more.

* Minister ‘too busy’ to sit down with unions:

The Ministry of Labour yesterday postponed a planned Wednesday sit-down with the leaders of five union groups participating in a nationwide garment worker strike, saying Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng is too busy.

Signed by the ministry’s Secretary of State Oum Mean, the brief notice was sent to Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) president Ath Thorn, Free Trade Union (FTU) president Chea Mony, Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) president Pav Sina, National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC) president Morm Nhim and Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions president Yang Sophorn.
read more.

* Prominent Union Leader rejects talks on minimum wage with government:

Mr. Chea Mony, President of Free Trade Union of Workers of Cambodia (FTUWC) announced today that he would not attend the meeting on January 8 as convened by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training , arguing that the meeting would be useless as one of the five Union leaders was put under pressure through legal lawsuit, which is a threat against the Unions’ legal rights.

The statement signed by Chea Mony today said that both Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training should allow workers to go off from work for a while without deducting their wage so as to avoid eventual violence which may affect the workers’ lives and property as a result of authority’s suppression.

On 3 January 2014, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training invited the leaders of the 5 Unions, including Mr. Chea Mony, Mr. Pav Sina, Mrs. Mam Nhem and Mrs. Yang Sophorn who have been staging protest for a minimum wage of USD 160 to join a meeting on 8 January 2014.
read more.

* Flouting Law, Government Holds Protest Prisoners Incognito:

Police and prison officials are refusing to disclose the whereabouts of more than 20 people, including union leaders and political activists, who were arrested during protests late last week, family members of the detained and rights workers said Monday.

Twenty-three protesters were charged with the destruction of property under aggravating circumstances after protests by striking garment factory workers were suppressed by military police on Thursday and Friday.

Moeun Tola, head of labor affairs at the Community Legal Education Center, said a team of defense lawyers from his organization had also been repeatedly denied access to or information about the prisoners, including a 17-year-old who was arrested at Veng Sreng.
read more.

* Police Block, Search Garment Workers’ Vans in Svay Rieng:

Local police in Svay Rieng province Sunday and Monday set up checkpoints along National Road 1 to stop and search vans carrying garment workers back to Phnom Penh from their home villages.

Has Naly, deputy police chief in Svay Teap district, said police had set up the checkpoints to search workers’ cars for weapons because they were worried the workers would stage another protest over the minimum wage.
“We didn’t stop them from traveling, but we checked their vans to see if they had any weapons,” he said.
“We were worried they would bring them to a demonstration. We wanted to know company names, their positions and the identities of the workers,” Mr. Naly said.
read more.

* Global labour movement shows solidarity with Cambodia:

At least four Cambodian workers were killed on Friday, and more than 39 others were wounded, when police in Phnom Penh opened fire on a crowd of protesters demanding higher wages.

In addition, at least 23 people have been arrested; their whereabouts remain unknown.
Human rights organisations describe the incident as the worst state violence against civilians in more than a decade.
According to witnesses on the ground, AK-47 rifles were used by armed forces to quell the demonstration.
In an interview with the French news agency AFP, a military police spokesman, Kheng Tito, justified the crackdown, saying nine policemen had been injured by violent protesters. He also said if the strikes were to continue, the situation would turn into “anarchy”.
read more.

* ICC complaint to lay shootings at PM’s feet:

The Cambodia National Rescue Party is preparing to file a complaint to the International Criminal Court against Prime Minister Hun Sen over the deadly violence against striking factory workers last week.

CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha told reporters yesterday that the party was working with the families of those killed when riot police on Friday opened fire on workers gathered at Veng Streng Boulevard in the capital’s Meanchey district.
“We are preparing the procedure, and we have enough international lawyers to do this work,” Kem Sokha said, without elaborating.
He added he believed enough evidence had been amassed to sue Hun Sen at the court.
read more.

* Wage fight ‘to wound’ key sector:

Garment factories lost out on some $200 million in profits and another $70 million that should have been invested in production since workers walked out on December 25 in a strike for higher wages, according to Van Sou Ieng, president of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia.

Speaking at a presentation yesterday in Phnom Penh Hotel, Ieng said that in addition to missed profits, orders will go down 20 to 30 per cent this year, factories will have to rush through shipments to meet deadlines by using expensive air-freight options, and Cambodia will be thought of as high-risk by global brands, which will reduce prices.

“Now the factories are trying to recover from lost production time to deliver, and I am 80 per cent sure that no factory is making money because all will be shipped by air,” said Ieng, who appeared emotional over the crisis. “Over six months or four months, all the factories will lose money.
read more.

* Garment Strike Cost Industry $200 Million, GMAC Says:

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said Monday that the recent weeks of labor unrest have cost the industry $200 million and international buyers would likely cut clothing orders by up to 30 percent this year, while the killing of five strike protesters was dismissed as “collateral damage.”

Capping off a week of strikes and protests by garment workers demanding a doubling of the sector’s monthly minimum wage to $160, military police shot dead five and wounded more than 20 outside a Phnom Penh factory on Friday.

Condemned by human rights groups, the U.N. and foreign governments, GMAC Secretary-General Ken Loo on Sunday said the military police’s lethal response to the stone-throwers was “absolutely” appropriate.

At a press conference at the Phnom Penh Hotel on Monday to justify its staunch rejection of the striking workers wage demand, and to call for an end to the strike, GMAC chairman Van Sou Ieng roundly condoned the military police killings, and blamed the deaths on the strikers themselves.
read more.

* GMAC worries about departures of investors after labor unrest:

The President of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) warned yesterday that the recent weeks of labor unrest may adversely affect the garment industry in the future.

“If the threat continues, the investors may not dare to invest in Cambodia,” said Van Sou Ieng, GMAC president told a conference yesterday at the Phnom Penh Hotel.
He also said that the garment industry lost USD 200 millions due to recent weeks of unrest, which killed at least five peoples and several days of closure of most of the factories in the Kingdom.
He added wage negotiation has to be held but must be in accordance with law and at a place free of violence/

“Employers agreed to provide USD 95 per month for workers in the last wage talk. However, the government then asked us to increase to USD 100 per month because it wants to help the workers,” he said.
He warned that most of factory employers could not afford if the minimum wage is to increase up to USD 160 per month.
to read.

* Apparel brands express ‘deep concern’ over Cambodia violence in open letter:

A clutch of popular global clothing and accessories brand names have sent an open letter to Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen and his Cabinet expressing “deep concern” over the violence of last week, when troops fired at rioting garment industry workers killing five and injuring more than 30.

The letter signed by H&M, Gap Inc, Inditex, Puma SE, Adidas Group, Columbia Sportswear Company and Levis Strauss & Co, was also addressed to Cambodian manufacturers and trade unions.

“We strongly oppose all forms of violence,” the letter, a copy of which was emailed to The Straits Times, said.
read more.

* Stop Seeking Compensation for Damages from Cambodian Workers:

Korean companies in Cambodia appear to be preparing to launch a lawsuit against the leader of Cambodia’s opposition party and the labor unions seeking compensation for damages.They claim they have suffered losses reaching $10 million due to disruptions in production and damage to facilities caused by the union’s strike and demonstrations. It is a lawsuit by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), but reports claim that Korean companies are leading such an initiative.
It is inhumane and anti-labor to respond to a poor worker’s request to increase the minimum wage to $160 with a major lawsuit. If it is true that Korean companies are leading such an effort, it is truly embarrassing. It is only right that they stop such an attempt immediately.
read more.

* China hopes Cambodian parties express demands “legally” after bloody clash:

China called on all parties in Cambodia to express their demands through “legal means” following days of protests in the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comment at a daily news briefing when asked about clashes between Cambodian police and protesters, which left at least four dead on Friday.
“We hope they can solve problems through friendly consultations and maintain social order and peace,” Hua said.
Friday’s garment worker protest on the outskirts of Phnom Penh turned violent. The clash between the protesters and police left four strikers dead, 26 injured and 11 arrested.
read more.

* Military Police Deny Their Bullets Killed Five Protesters:

A spokesman for the military police said Monday that there would be no investigation into the killing of five stone-throwing protesters and the wounding of more than 20 on Friday in Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng Street, and that the military police had behaved “ethically” when they opened fire.

Brigadier General Kheng Tito said military police—who were witnessed firing AK-47 assault rifles and killing and wounding protesters on official orders—were “very ethical.”
Brig. Gen. Tito also claimed that it was unclear who had shot the five protesters.
read more.

* Government Finds Deniability in District Security Force:

When the government violently cleared Freedom Park of protesters on Saturday morning, sending in more than a hundred men armed with metal bars and wooden batons, it didn’t use the police.

When a group of five anti-eviction activists were dragged off the street Monday morning and bundled into a van and driven to the Phnom Penh municipal prison, it wasn’t the police either.
read more.

$160 We Need

16:15:44 local time MALAYSIA

* How minimum wage affects you:

The minimum wage policy is consistent with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s aspirations to transform the country into a high-level income country.

Although the ruling was gazetted in July 2012, it was supposed to take effect January this year. However, many businesses have urged for more time to comply to the ruling and as a result, the government said it would fully enforce the law only by January 2014.

This year, Malaysia will join more than 150 other countries that already have minimum wage laws in place. The policy sets a minimum wage of RM900 per month (RM4.33 per hour) for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 per month (RM3.85 per hour) for Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan, covering both the local and foreign workforce, except for domestic workers such as domestic helpers and gardeners.
read more.
FREEMALAYSIATODAY

* Right To Food, A Rising Challenge For Malaysia:

As Malaysia continues to record impressive economic growth and good results in poverty eradication, the importance of achieving the right to food has become a challenge.

The right to food is a human right recognised under international law, which protects the right of all human beings to feed themselves in dignity, either by producing their food or by purchasing it.
Realising the importance of this issue, the Malaysian government has initiated a move to get to the root of the problem with the assistance of the United Nations (UN).
Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food was invited to prepare preliminary reports on several aspects that revolve around the human rights category including the right to food.
(…)
MINIMUM WAGE
UN also commended the adoption of minimum wage in Malaysia, which it said could help to ensure a higher standard of living for the working poor across the country.
De Schutter said the current rate for the minimum wage of RM900 a month in the Peninsular and RM800 in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, which was enforced on Jan 1, 2013, is still quite low in comparison to the poverty line defined by the government itself based on the basic needs of households
“I would hope the National Wages Consultative Council would in time increase the level of the minimum wage,” he said.
read more.

* Malaysia living costs surge:

Millions of middle-class Malaysians are grappling with the biggest increase in state controlled electricity and gasoline costs since 2008, threatening consumer spending growth and reasserting Malaysia’s reliance on exports this year.

Since winning a May election, Prime Minister Najib Razak has unleashed a series of price increases to cut subsidies and improve state finances, crimping scope for companies to boost wages while spurring inflation.
The moves, from a 14% jump in sugar costs in October to an 11% increase for gasoline in September and an average 15% to 16.9% climb for electricity this month, could slow private consumption growth by 0.9 percentage point in 2014, according to Alliance Financial Group Bhd. and Malaysian Rating Corp.
(…)
Pay increases
Executives will get a 5.63% average increase in salaries, down from 6.31% in 2013, and non-executives will get a 5.65% raise from 6.7 last year, according to an MEF survey of 257 companies. Lower-paid workers will fare better — in addition to benefiting from a minimum wage, non-executives will get a bigger bonus this year while executives will get a smaller payout.
read more.

20140106

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

20140101 $160
“Solidarity for #MW160KH”

* Five Killed During Protest Confirmed as Garment Workers:

The five people killed by AK-47 gunfire from military police at a protest along Pur Senchey district’s Veng Sreng Street on Friday were all striking garment factory workers, a union official confirmed Sunday.

Military police officers opened fire on the factory-lined street on Friday morning during clashes with striking workers armed with sticks, stones and Molotov cocktails, killing five men and injuring at least 30 people.

An investigating team from the independent Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (CCAWDU) has since identified the five confirmed killed by military police as garment factory workers, CCAWDU legal officer Oum Visal said.

Mr. Visal added that 35 other garment factory workers, as well as two students, had also been identified by CCAWDU in its rounds of three Phnom Penh hospitals as having been injured on Veng Sreng Street.

The hospitals surveyed by CCAWDU, which Mr. Visal said will release the full findings of its investigation today, were the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, Calmette Hospital and Preah Kossamak Hospital.
read more.

* After Clashes, Garment Workers Flee Veng Sreng Street:

The few remaining residents of Phnom Penh’s garment factory-lined Veng Sreng Street, where government forces armed with assault rifles shot dead five striking workers on Friday, said Sunday that most workers had since fled in fear for their lives.

Battlefield soldiers from the military’s Brigade 70 unit in trucks and machine-gun-mounted jeeps patrolled the stretch of road over the weekend, as overflowing green minivans ferried workers to the safety of their family homes in the provinces.

Khieu Khorn, 56, who owns a three-story residential building that military police attempted to storm on Friday, said that the 43 garment workers who rented rooms from him had all returned to their family homes since the end of the violence.

“I don’t think many are going to come back to even collect their salaries,” Mr. Khorn said. “Most believe that if they come back, the government may shoot at them again.”
read more.

* Many garment factories resume work:

Many garment factories along Veng Sreng street resume their operations on Monday, three days after deadly clashes.

The Veng Sreng Street was re-opened for traffic and many workers were seen going to work even though the some shops and restaurants remain closed.

Military Police and vehicles were seen being deployed in front of Canadia Industrial Park where the violence took place last Friday, leaving five people dead, some 37 people injured, and 13 arrested.

The Cambodian government announced Veng Sreng Street as dangerous location after the deadly clashes.
to read.

* Rong Chhun summoned to appear at court for allegedly provoking social unrest:

Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned Rong Chhun, President of Cambodian Confederation of Unions, to appear at court for being questioned on January 14 after deadly clashes on Veng Sreng Street last week.

Rong Chhun, also President of Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, was accused of inciting crimes and social unrest.
He was one of the six union leaders who led nation-wide strikes to increase the minimum wage from USD 80 to USD160 before the clashes. All of them are now going into hiding.
The court also summoned opposition party leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to appear at court on January 14 for being questioned on the clashes.
The clash toke place last Friday and left five people dead, and 37 others injured.
to read.

* Exodus follows violent clash:

Garment workers have begun leaving the area surrounding embattled Veng Sreng street en masse, following the outbreak of clashes early on Friday morning.

An estimated 80 per cent of the more than 10,000 workers who live and are employed in the Meanchey district suburb have vacated their homes, said Som Aun, president of the government’s Cambodian Council of National Unions (CCNU).

“As far as I know, the workers at other factories did not return to their hometowns, but the workers living on Veng Sreng street and near Canadia park left their rental homes out of fear,” he said.
read more.

* Picking up the pieces:

The sight of traffic moving easily and people milling about along Veng Sreng Boulevard in the capital’s Meanchey district yesterday was a far cry from two days earlier, when the street was occupied by makeshift roadblocks, bonfires and military personnel carrying automatic rifles.

While visible evidence of the deadly crackdown on a garment worker strike near the Canadia Industrial Park on Friday – which claimed the lives of at least four – and attacks on pro-opposition demonstrators in Freedom Park on Saturday had largely disappeared, the unprecedented violence remained all too real for those affected.

“I was very scared when authorities cracked down and opened fire,” So Sambath, 20, said as he lay in the intensive care unit of Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital with a bullet wound in his stomach. “Maybe I won’t return to work if protests continue, because I’m afraid they will open fire again.”

Demonstrations at the industrial park over the minimum wage began peacefully on Thursday, witnesses said, though Post reporters on site said that hours before police arrived, the road had been partially blocked and more than a half-dozen bonfires lit.

After an initial encounter that saw law enforcement officials beat demonstrators and go as far as chase some into their homes, police withdrew, only to return in greater numbers, and with deadly force, hours later.

Rights group Licadho yesterday confirmed that, according to their tally, at least four men were killed, three of whom were garment workers.

Pheng Kosal, a 24-year-old garment worker, Yean Rithy, a 24-year-old garment worker and father of one, and Kim Polin, 29, all died from gunshot wounds at the Khmer-Soviet hospital on Friday, according to Licadho. Korng Ravy, a 25-year-old factory worker and father of two, died at Calmette Hospital after being shot on Friday.
read more.

* Canadia park, a ghost town:

On most Sundays, the wide boulevard separating two rows of some 40 mustard-coloured factories in the Canadia Industrial Park is teeming with people.

Garment workers who live on the premises stroll or bicycle along the road, stopping to eat at the same restaurants, patronizing the same stores. For businesses lucky enough to be in Canadia’s microcosm of an economy, the 13,000 workers in the park have translated into a steady stream of revenue. But all that changed on Friday, when garment workers—many of whom held jobs at one of Canadia’s factories—clashed with military police and riots cops outside the park on Veng Sreng road.

The bloody altercation was part of an ongoing labour strike that started almost two weeks ago, when workers walked off the job after the government refused to raise minimum wages to $160.
read more.

* GMAC Defends Use of Force Against Striking Workers:

A senior member of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) on Sunday endorsed the use of deadly force by military police against striking garment workers, which left five dead and more than 20 with gunshot wounds.

Military police opened fire indiscriminately when they were pelted with rocks by hundreds of garment factory protesters on Veng Sreng Street in the city’s Pur Senchey district, where thousands of workers are on strike for a raise in the minimum wage.

The protesters had set up barricades on the road and had made crude, mostly ineffective Molotov cocktails.
While one local rights group called the killings the worst case of state violence against civilians in 15 years, GMAC Secretary-General Ken Loo said Sunday that the authorities had responded appropriately.

“GMAC condemns the use of violence, period,” he said. “However, I think that the police had to respond to break up the rioters, and the rioters were not responding to verbal warnings.”
Mr. Loo said the military police were in the right to open fire on the protesters.
read more.

* Violent response to strike for increased minimum wage:

A nationwide strike in Cambodia to increase the minimum wage from USD 80 to USD 160 started on 24 December and ended nearly two weeks later in violence and killings.

Following a government decision to increase the existing minimum wage of USD 80 with USD 15, strikes erupted around Cambodia. Workers had demanded that the minimum wage should be raised to USD 160.

On the 2 and 3 January the demonstrations took a violent turn when protesters and rights activists were arrested. As Royal Police and striking workers clashed, four people were shot dead and 37 more were seriously injured.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the trade union leaders supporting the strikes, including leaders of IndustriALL Global Union affiliates.Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL’s general secretary, strongly condemns the violence and persecution of trade union representatives:
Killing and injuring workers is wholly unacceptable and must end immediately! IndustriALL fully stands behind the Cambodian workers’ demands for a living wage of USD 160. The 15 dollar increase proposed by the government is shameful.
to read.

* Global Union Bodies Demand Justice for Cambodian Workers:

Workers had been demonstrating peacefully demanding an increase in the minimum wage.

At least four workers were killed and 39 injured during a crackdown by security forces on Friday. Trade unionists and labour rights supporters have been targeted for attack as workers demanded a minimum wage above the government offer of US$100 per month, which is woefully insufficient to meet the rising cost of living. Over 23 have been arrested, their whereabouts unknown, and summonses have been issued for several union leaders.

“Cambodia’s government must return to the negotiating table and agree to a fair wage for garment workers and cease the dictatorial repression of legitimate strike action by workers. It should immediately release all those detained, and ensure that those responsible for the killings and violence are brought to justice,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of IndustriALL, said “The right to strike for a higher minimum wage is solidly protected by the international right to freedom of association, enshrined in ILO Convention 87 – which Cambodia ratified in 1999. The threats, arrests, and the killing of trade unionists for the exercise of that right is an extremely grave violation and must be condemned. Any encouragement of that violence by garment manufacturers must end. ”
read more. & read more. & ITUC letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen

* Mr Hun Sen: Stop the Brutal Suppression of Workers and Trade Unions in Cambodia:

Support Cambodian working people who have been struggling for their rights.

The Cambodian government has been violently suppressing the legitimate strike organised and participated by the majority of garment, textile and footwear workers demanding higher minimum wage.

Numerous media reports confirmed that the use of excessive force of the police and armed forces brutally killed at least four workers and severely injured 23 workers and supporters between 2nd and 3rd January 2014.
We have been informed that many arrests were made by authorities as well and 10 workers are under police and army custody up to date.
It is very unfortunate that it was the government not the workers who initiated the violent clash between security forces and strikers.
read more and please sign.

16:15:44 local time MALAYSIA

* DAP urges govt to review minimum wage for foreign workers:

To ensure the country remains competitive, the DAP is urging the government to review the implementation of the minimum wage for foreign workers in Malaysia.

* Minimum wage for foreign workers: Give SMEs 5-year grace period, says Guan Eng:

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has called for the implementation of the minimum wage policy to be delayed for foreign workers.

Lim said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be given a grace period of five years to adjust to the implementation of the policy before including foreign workers in the policy’s coverage.

He said this was because Malaysian workers in SMEs are complaining that foreign workers are earning the same rate as them, pushing SME employers to hire Malaysians at higher salaries resulting in higher costs for business operations.

“For this reason, there should be a review of extending the minimum wage to all workers, by giving a grace period of at least 5 years to SMEs employers to adjust before including foreign workers,” the DAP secretary-general said in a statement today.
read more.

* LGE STATEMENT ON MIGRANT LABOUR MINIMUM WAGE SHORT SIGHTED ! :

Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng’s statement that the minimum wage should be restricted to Malaysians only and not extended to migrant workers is hugely disappointing.

His reasoning that extending the minimum wage to migrant workers would increase business costs as well as result in a net outflow of money is lame and totally unacceptable.

Employers are under no compulsion to hire migrant workers and if indeed they are too costly, then bosses should stop hiring them! Or if it is felt that SMEs can’t cope with a larger wage bill, then the government should subsidise the SMEs in some way instead of asking workers to make a sacrifice.

Workers’ rights are not exactly a priority with bosses, and thus workers look to the government to intercede on their behalf. Unfortunately, the federal government has shown itself to be complicit with employers in the exploitation of both Malaysian and migrant workers. It is truly regrettable that Lim Guan Eng doesn’t differ from the federal government in this matter.

Instead of addressing the demands of Malaysian workers for better wages and
working conditions, the government has flooded the labour market with cheap migrant labour. |
This has severely curtailed the bargaining power of local labour, and created youth unemployment among unskilled, academically poor Malaysian youths, a situation that is a contributing factor to social problems.

Creating an income differential by denying migrant workers the minimum wage will not change this situation. In fact it will only encourage companies to employ foreign workers because it is cheaper. Lim Guan Eng’s remarks are thus shortsighted and harmful for Malaysian youths and workers as well.

The situation is no better for the more than 4 million migrant workers whose exploitation is sanctioned by government policies. It’s officially known that workers passports are unlawfully held by bosses, a situation that places them in an extremely vulnerable position, and that has led to all kinds of abuses, including the crime of trafficking.

The PSM is against the exploitation of workers. Cost-cutting should not be at the expense of workers, whatever their nationality. All workers should be paid the minimum wage without further delay.
Stop discriminating by skin colour and nationality!
Accord labour its due dignity!
Legislate policy in the interest of society!
to read.& to read.

HAITI

* Hanes is stealing from some of the world’s poorest workers:

Giant clothing brand Hanes has been caught stealing from some of the poorest workers in the world, and we’ve got less than a week to stop it.

Haiti has become an apparel-producing powerhouse as global clothing brands like Hanes move factories there to take advantage of some of the lowest wages in the western hemisphere. But workers aren’t benefiting from the boom — a new report from our friends at the Worker Rights Consortium has revealed that every single export garment factory in Haiti has been paying workers less than the minimum wage. And as a result, three quarters of Haitian garment workers don’t make enough to afford three full meals a day.

At the end of this week, Russell and Gildan, two of Hanes’s top competitors, are meeting with labor rights advocates and representatives from Haitian unions to make plans to pay workers what they’re owed. But Hanes has refused to join them. That means we need to speak out now and let Hanes know that consumers will hold it accountable if it tries to ignore the workers making its clothes.
read more.

20140105

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

20140105

* Cambodian Authorities! End Brutal Repression Immediately! :

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance strongly condemns the use of extreme force, violence and arrest to quell garment workers strike in Cambodia on January 2nd and 3rd, 2014. The garment workers’ strike is a legitimate expression of the desperation of garment workers who are crushed under poverty level wages.

The violent crackdown on striking workers by a military special command unit and the consequent violent arrest of union leaders, garment workers and supporters, causing 3 deaths is shocking and absolutely acceptable. Desperate poverty has to be ended by the payment of living wages and cannot be ended through violence.

We, the international community, call upon the Cambodian authorities to release unconditionally those who are being arrested and detained for exercising their rights to participate in peaceful assembly. We call upon brands and retailers such as H&M, Adidas, GAP, and Walmart to act swiftly to support the implementation of USD 160 minimum wage in Cambodia.

The violent crackdown on the peaceful strike of garment workers and unions in Cambodia is a shameful example of how garment workers are brutalized by the forces of poverty, global garment brands’ greed and state-sponsored repression. This is against the treasured international human right of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining. Cambodia as the signatory to the ILO’s Convention on Freedom of Association is bound by the ILO Convention. The attack on the peaceful strikers and the ongoing violence and imprisonment are absolutely unacceptable by the international community.

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance supports the demand for the implementation of USD 160 as minimum wage in Cambodia. We support USD 160 as the wage that can provide minimal dignity to Cambodian workers, and not the poverty wage of USD 100.

We call upon key brands and retailers such as H&M, Adidas, GAP, and Walmart to act swiftly to support the implementation of USD 160 minimum wage in Cambodia. They must show their commitment to bear the share in their supply chains so that garment workers in Cambodia are able to receive a minimally dignified wage.
On Behalf of Asia Floor Wage Alliance

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* Garment pieceworkers not eligible for overtime pay:

Garment workers who are paid for the number of pieces they produce per day will not be eligible for overtime pay as they are employed on a contract basis, according to a notice of the labour and employment ministry issued on Thursday.

The workers paid on a piecework basis did not get any overtime pay earlier also, under section 108 of the labour law of 2006, Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar said yesterday.
The same section has also been incorporated in the amended labour law of 2013, Shipar said, adding that workers on piece rates are mainly employed in sweater factories, Shipar said.
As sweater is a seasonal product, factories continue such production for nine months a year and are engaged in other manufacturing activities during the rest of the time, he said.
read more.

* Cost of living registers a significant hike:

The cost of living increased by 80 per cent each year since 2009, according to the household income and expenditure survey conducted in 2010 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

But a conservative interpretation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the same agency suggested that the living costs had increased by around 50 per cent throughout the country during the same period due to rise in prices of food and non-food items.

In fact, growing health, education and transport expenses have been added to a significant hike in food prices during the last five years. These have pushed up the living costs to an unexpectedly high level, especially in urban areas of the country.

The estimate of the household income and expenditure survey of the BBS appears more credible as it takes into account the sharp increase in house rents, medical costs and transport fares. The growing living cost occurred in contrast to the promises the incumbent government had made in its election manifesto to keep prices of food and non-food commodities within the tolerable level of the common people.
read more.

* RMG workers to get food and transport allowances even in absence:

‘We will not tolerate any conspiracy hatched by BGMEA as they are trying to convince the government to reduce the monthly wages on the ground of workers absence’

The country’s readymade garment workers are entitled to get food and transport allowances even in their absence from 1 December, 2013, as per new wage structure.

But, the workers who work for the sweater factories on piece basis, however, will not enjoy the overtime facilities as per existing labour law, which lacks any such provision.

“The government has made it clear that the RMG workers will get food and transport allowances along with their monthly salary as the new wage structure included both the two allowances in the minimum monthly wage,” Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We have already verbally informed the BGMEA about the matter and will also send an official letter on Monday on the issue, he added.

Commenting as to what would the grade of the workers who do not fall in any existing grades Shipar said, ‘We will make such a decision after holding a meeting with the BGMEA leaders and labour leaders as they are the key stake holders.’’
read more.

13:45:44 local time INDIA

* Spinning mill workers demand new wage agreement:

Spinning mill workers from Madathukulam and Udumalpet taluks, belonging to CITU- affiliated Tirupur District Textile Workers Union, staged a demonstration in Udumalpet demanding implementation of fresh wage agreement and better employment terms.

N. Krishnasamy, district secretary of Tirupur District Textile Workers Union, said that since 1996, wage agreement had not been signed between the private-sector spinning mills management and the workers.

“Some spinning mills, out of the 80-odd units situated in Udumalpet and Madathukulam taluks, have given marginal increments in the salary to the workers on their own. Due to the non-existence of a proper wage agreement, the majority of the workers are still struggling with poor salaries,” he added.
He further pointed out that the mills run under National Textile Corporation have accorded wage increases to the workers in accordance with the signed agreements.

Wage hike
The Union wanted a minimum increase of Rs 2,000 per month in the basic salary to the workers and enhancement of lower slab of variable dearness allowance for a day to Rs. 46.50.
Mr. Krishnasamy said that all workers who had completed 480 days of service should be made permanent.
to read.

20140104

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* Military police storm Freedom Park:

Cambodia National Rescue Party leaders are holed up at their party headquarters in the capital’s Meanchey district after authorities forcefully evicted opposition demonstrators from Freedom Park today.

Amid rumours that the government intends to arrest key opposition and union figures, CNRP lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua said the party’s lawmakers-elect had gathered in solidarity in its office – close to the Ministry of Interior.
“I don’t think it [the arrest warrants] is a rumour,” she said. “I think it is a reality. “It’s a matter of time, [but] I have no idea [what the government is accusing us of]. How would I? We’ve done nothing wrong.”
When called for comment, Phnom Penh Municipal Court president Chiv Keng, pled ignorant of any warrants.

Negotiations with the government, meanwhile – originally planned for yesterday, but nixed by the opposition following a violent crackdown against garment workers and monks – appear to be off the table altogether now, Sochua added.
“[Interior Minister] Sar Kheng said he no longer wants to communicate with Mr. Rainsy,” she said.

Kong Athit, vice president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said he had moved to an undisclosed area on the outskirts of the capital.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said of the crackdown in Freedom Park. “I don’t know what their plan is. But this is their own fear.”
read more.

* Cambodia clears protest park after deadly clashes:

Cambodian security guards and city workers, watched over by riot police, dismantled a camp occupied by anti-government demonstrators on Saturday, a day after a bloody crackdown on garment factory workers allied with the protest movement.

Friday’s clashes, during which police shot dead four people, have stoked a political crisis in which striking workers and supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) are challenging a government they say cheated its way to power and is depriving them of a fair wage.

Despite the crackdown, CNRP leader Sam Rainsy vowed that a mass march and rally planned for Sunday would go ahead. Rainsy also condemned the violence and demanded a thorough investigation.
Hundreds of CNRP supporters have been camped since December 15 in tents around a stage in Freedom Park, the only place in Phnom Penh where protests are allowed.

Unions representing garment workers want better pay and support CNRP’s demands for a re-run of an election in July it says was rigged to allow long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen to remain in power.
Friday’s clashes took place at Canadia Industrial Park, also in Phnom Penh, which is home to dozens of factories that make clothing for Western brands such as Adidas, Puma and H&M Hennes & Mauritz.
read more.

* Peaceful Protesters Expelled from Freedom Park as Military Mobilization Escalates:

This morning state forces put a violent end to CNRP supporters’ long-standing occupation of Freedom Park, also known as Democracy Plaza, an area in central Phnom Penh specifically designated for protest.

This action follows two days of violence, which included the shooting yesterday at the Canadia industrial zone which left at least four civilians dead and dozens wounded.

The violence began at around 11.00 this morning when hundreds of police and military police blocked roads surrounding Freedom Park and rapidly and without warning moved in to clear the park of protesters. As they approached, the residing protesters, many of whom were monks or women with their children fled in fear leaving behind their belongings. The forces were accompanied by hundreds of thuggish civilians wearing red arm bands who used metre-long steel poles to beat and intimidate the peaceful protesters. Once the park was clear of people, they and the uniformed forces tore down the stage as well as temporary structures that had been built to provide shelter to protesters, destroyed a Buddhist shrine and wrecked audio equipment belonging to the CNRP.

LICADHO staff, as well as journalists and workers from other NGOS, who were attempting to document the events and provide help to protesters, were threatened by the thugs and prevented from entering the park while the destruction took place.
read more.

* Military Police Are Killing the Cambodians Who Make Your Clothes:

Four people were killed and 21 more injured in Cambodia this morning, when police opened fire with AK-47s into a group of protesters. The deaths come after months of tension and escalating violence between the authorities and garment workers, who are demanding higher wages.

Things came to a head on Thursday evening, when a police battalion in Phnom Penh were beaten back from an apartment block that had been seized by protesters during a day of demonstrations. By this morning, the military cops were engaged in a standoff on Veng Sreng Boulevard—one of the main roads out of the Cambodian capital—and the makeup of their opponents was a curious one. The factory workers, 90 percent of whom are women, had at some point been replaced by groups of metal pole- and machete-wielding young men, gathered together behind rows of Molotov cocktails.

At some point, the military police chose to respond to a barrage of rocks, bricks, and flaming bottles with gunfire. A nearby clinic that had refused to help the injured was ransacked. One of the injured was a pregnant woman who had been trying to escape the chaos.
read more.

* Cambodia strike faces deadly crackdown:

Garment workers making clothes for export have been killed by security forces as they protested for higher wages.

As hundreds of heavily-armed military police began moving in to quell protesting garment workers Friday morning, Neang Davin looked on nervously.

“Last night I didn’t join anything, I was just driving my motorbike and stopped to watch. The police arrived, they didn’t ask anything, they just went in and began beating us,” said Davin, leaning on a bamboo stick for support. “Even though we ran into the market, we weren’t confronting them; they just went in and started beating us. They hit me on the back with a baton.”

Clashes between police and protesters that began after midnight Friday on the outskirts of Phnom Penh escalated Saturday morning leaving at least four shot dead and 23 seriously injured.

While the government lay the blame at the feet of protesters who pushed back security forces with rocks, Molotov cocktails and homemade weapons, none of those injured were police, admitted Military Police Spokesman Kheng Tito.

Instead, it was striking workers and bystanders who bore the brunt of an unusually harsh retaliation by police who appear to have grown weary of peacefully breaking up the protests that have roiled Phnom Penh for the past week.

Garment worker woes
On December 24, workers began striking en masse after the government announced it would be raising the minimum wage from $80 a month to $95 – an offer that fell far short of unions call for $160 a month. By the time the Ministry of Labour caved a week later and agreed to an extra $5 a month boost, the genie was out of the bottle. Years of chronic underpayment and poor working conditions had pushed at least half of the nation’s estimated 600,000 workers into the streets.
read more.

* Police Kill 5 During Clash With Demonstrators:

Five people were shot dead and more than 20 injured, most suffering gunshot wounds, when military police officers opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles during clashes with protesters armed with stones, sticks and crude Molotov cocktails on Veng Sreng Street in the heart of the garment factory zone in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district on Friday.

Local rights group Licadho said the killings represent “the worst State violence against civilians” in 15 years, and is the single worst incident ever to hit the country’s key garment industry, which employs some 600,000 people in hundreds of mostly foreign-owned firms.

The deaths and injuries cap more than a week of mostly peaceful protests as tens of thousands of garment factory workers have gone on strike to press their demands for a wage of $160 per month.
read more.

* Cambodia Must Investigate Protest Killings by Security Forces:

Cambodian authorities must hold security forces to account for today’s killing of at least four people at a protest by garment workers that turned violent in the capital Phnom Penh, Amnesty International said.

“Today’s tragic violence must be investigated and those responsible for deaths and injuries held to account,” said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s Cambodia researcher. “The Cambodian government has to rein in its security forces. Today’s events sadly echo other recent incidents – on at least four occasions in the past few months, security forces have used unnecessary or excessive force, including live ammunition, against protesters and bystanders.

“As with so many human rights violations in Cambodia, the lack of accountability for these incidents is a reminder of the pervasive culture of impunity in the country. There must be root and branch change to ensure the perpetrators of violations are brought to book.”
read more.

* Court Charges Protesters as Supporters, Police Scuffle Outside:

About 300 military police on Friday cleared demonstrators outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court who were demanding the release of 10 protest leaders detained since a bloody clash with paratroopers on Thursday.

The protesters, who numbered at most 250 and included monks, had closed off Monireth Boulevard with speaker-mounted tuk-tuks at both the front of the court and at the road’s intersection with Sihanouk Boulevard.
As court officials inside began proceedings to charge the detained protesters, including striking garment factory workers, rights activists and union officials, those outside took turns to harangue the court over a loudspeaker.

About 150 military police soon emerged from the adjacent Olympic Stadium and formed a police line next to the tuk-tuk blockade, at times arguing with monks who approached them but otherwise remaining calm.
At 9 a.m., CNRP vice president Kem Sokha arrived and told the crowd that the 10 detained protesters were not criminals but victims of military brutality.

Five monks, striking garment workers, union leaders and journalists were beaten on Thursday as soldiers from the elite 911 paratrooper unit broke up a protest of workers striking for a higher minimum wage in Pur Senchey district.
“If you arrest the union leaders and garment workers, you must also arrest the police and military police who beat up the workers,” Mr. Sokha shouted to the crowd.
read more.

* Security Guards, Police Forcibly Clear Freedom Park:

At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, security guards, men in plainclothes and municipal police, all wielding steel bars and metal pipes, forcibly cleared hundreds of demonstrators from Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park, where the opposition CNRP has been protesting against the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen for three straight weeks.

Demonstrators, including monks and women, were indiscriminately beaten as they ran away.
The move by the CPP government came one day after its security forces shot dead at least five, and injured more than 20, protesting garment workers, armed with stones, sticks and crude Molotov cocktails, during clashes in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district.
City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said the park had to be cleared to restore public order in the capital city, which has been host to daily protests marches and mass demonstrations in recent weeks.
read more.

* Police disperse opposition rally after deadly clashes:

Anti-riot police forces, armed with shields and batons, dispersed opposition’s supporters from their protest base at the Freedom Park on Saturday.

The measure was taken after Phnom Penh governor Pa Socheatvong sent a letter to opposition leader Sam Rainsy to inform him that the rally at the Freedom Park can not be allowed any more because of risky situation.
The Phnom Penh authority banned the opposition’s rally after there were deadly clashes yesterday, killing at least four protesters.
At the site, the police removed the tents and evicted the supporters of Cambodia National Rescue Party from the Freedom Park.
to read.

* Phnom Penh Municipality calls on factory workers to return to work:

The Phnom Penh municipality, on 3 January, appealed to factory workers to return to work as usual as many workers left Phnom Penh due to fear after violent clash between the military police and angry protesters, killing four people.

In its statement, the Phnom Penh Municipality said talks between the Government, Garment Manufacturers in Cambodia (GMAC) and the Worker Unions will resume to talks on the minimum wage demand.
In its statement, the municipality stated that the clashes stemmed from the incitement by politicians and not factory workers. The municipality also rationalized its last resort crack-down due to high risk of the violent incident.
Yesterday’s clash was the third and most serious clashes since the last July election.
After the clash, many workers were seen to take the buses back home for fear of security and safety.
to read.

* King requested to convene CPP, CNRP leaders for a summit to end crisis after deadly protest crackdown:

Independent analysts requested the Cambodian King to invite the leaders of Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to a negotiation table to end the political tension following yesterday’s violent crackdown, which killed at least four protesters.

The three Cambodian independent analysts are Dr. Lao Monghai, Dr. Sok Touch and Dr. Kem Ley, who wrote a joint letter yesterday to propose His Majesty the King to invite the leaders of the CPP and CNRP to a negotiation table at a convenient time under the King’s presidency.
read more.

* Bloody crackdown: UN condemns live fire, asks to bring violence instigators to justice:

The United Nations on Friday condemned the use of live fire against protesters and also urge authorities to bring instigators of violence to justice.

The UN made the statement following a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters yesterday, killing at least four protesters and injuring 30 others.
read more.

* EU calls for dispute parties to return to negotiation table after deadly crackdown:

The European Unions expressed its concern and called for peaceful talks to end violence, which killed at least four people in a heavy-handed crackdown yesterday.

“The Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia is very concerned by the violent demonstrations occurring in the vicinity of Phnom Penh over two days and regrets the disproportionate and excessive use of force by the security personnel, which resulted in the loss of lives,”
read more.

* US urges ‘restraint’ in Cambodia after violence:

The United States on Friday appealed for peaceful dialogue and denounced violence in Cambodia after police opened fire on protesting garment workers, killing three people.

“The United States deeply regrets the recent loss of life in Cambodia during violent clashes between protesters and government security forces,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.
read more.

* Khmer Kill Khmer…:

Striking workers who pulled up barricades on Veng Sreng road defying armed forces before being brutally dispersed, resulting in at least 3 dead, one badly injured and 3 confirmed arrests.

At least 3 people were shot dead and several were severely injured by hundreds of bullets fired by armed forces during a brutal crackdown in the morning of January 3rd on barricades set up by thousands of striking workers on Veng Sren road, in the industrial area of Phnom Penh.

Several others were arrested and subsequently tasered, beaten up or beaten unconscious.
see more. (photo report).

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* Sweater workers not entitled to overtime:

Sweater factory workers, who get wages on the basis of ‘piece rate’, are not entitled to get overtime, a labour ministry clarification said Thursday.

“According to Labour Law 2006 (Amended 2013), workers, who work on ‘piece rate’ basis, have no opportunity to get overtime,” it said.
The clarification came after the manufacturers sought explanation to this effect from the labour ministry, following queries from their global buyers.
Traditionally, the sweater factory workers get their payment on ‘piece-rate’ basis. They do not get other service benefits, like – overtime allowances, festival bonuses and leave benefit, according to labour leaders.
to read.

* Clash at CEPZ leaves 15 injured:

At least 15 people, including seven police were injured, during a clash between the law enforcers and the apparel workers at Chittagong Export Processing Zone, which is a special economic zone, Saturday morning.
Witnesses said the fight ensued at Section 7 factory located at road no 4 around 10.00am, following altercation over implementation of newly announced wage board and holidays.
A decision by the factory authority not to count the overtime on Friday and not show the salary sheet for the month of December in spite of repeated request by the workers ignited the clash, workers said.
‘The factory authority declared that they would not count our overtime on Friday on the ground that there would be a holiday on Sunday because of the 10th national election’, an agitated worker of Section Seven factory said. The factory wanted to adjust works of Sunday with that of Friday, he said.
read more.

* 10 Ctg RMG workers hurt in clash with cops:

At least 10 apparel workers were injured when they clashed with law enforcers on Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) compound in the port city demanding their arrears and overtime this morning.

Of the injured, condition of three, who sustained bullet wounds, was stated to be critical, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
They are now undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College and Hospital.
The agitating workers also torched a motorcycle on the CEPZ ground, said Abul Monsur, officer-in-charge (OC) of the export procession zone.
The clash erupted around 8:00am when the workers of Section Seven Ltd and Section Seven Apparels Ltd, owned by the same proprietor, were holding a rally on the CEPZ premises demanding their arrears and overtime, said Arifur Rahman, deputy assistant director of industrial police in Chittagong.
read more. & read more. & read more.

* Clash at CEPZ leaves 15 injured:

Witnesses said the fight ensued at Section 7 factory located at road no 4 around 10.00am, following altercation over implementation of newly announced wage board and holidays.
A decision by the factory authority not to count the overtime on Friday and not show the salary sheet for the month of December in spite of repeated request by the workers ignited the clash, workers said.
‘The factory authority declared that they would not count our overtime on Friday on the ground that there would be a holiday on Sunday because of the 10th national election’, an agitated worker of Section Seven factory said. The factory wanted to adjust works of Sunday with that of Friday, he said.
read more.

* Workers Clash in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) over implementation of the Minimum Wage 2014 (EPZ):

Today, 4 January 2014, at least 15 people including seven Industrial Police personnel were injured during a clash between the law enforcers and the apparel workers at Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ).

The clash erupted around 8:00am when the workers of Section Seven Ltd and Section Seven Apparels Ltd, owned by the same proprietor, were holding a rally on the CEPZ premises demanding their arrears, overtime and immediate implementation of their new minimum wages and holidays.

A decision by the factory authority not to count the overtime on Friday and not show the salary sheet for the month of December in spite of repeated request by the workers ignited the clash according to the workers.

‘The factory authority declared that they would not count our overtime on Friday on the ground that there would be a holiday on Sunday because of the 10th national election’, an agitated worker of Section Seven factory said. The factory wanted to adjust works of Sunday with that of Friday, he said.

Workers hurled bricks at the law enforcers which prompted them to retaliate with firing from shot guns. The condition came under control after a meeting was held comprising of workers, owners and the policemen clarifying the misunderstanding.
to read.

* 38 injured in RMG workers-police clash:

The situation was brought under control after additional police from the EPZ police station went to the scene and fired blank rounds and conducted baton charges

At least 38 people, including eight policemen, were injured in a clash between readymade garment workers and police near the Chittagong Export Processing Zone yesterday.

Police and local sources said workers had vandalised two RMG factories – Section Seven and Section Apparels – five vehicles, and torched a motorcycle at the CEPZ intersection around 10am. They were demanding the immediate implementation of the newly announced wage board.

Arifur Rahman Arif, inspector (intelligence) of Industrial Police in Chittagong, told the Dhaka Tribune that around 8,000 RMG workers locked into clashes with the police when they tried to disperse the agitated workers. Eight policemen had sustained injuries during the clash, he added.

The situation was brought under control after additional police from the EPZ police station went to the scene and fired blank rounds and conducted baton charges, Mostak Ahmed, additional deputy commissioner of Port Zone of Chittagong Metropolitan Police said.
read more.

20140103

16:15:44 local time PHILIPPINES

* Why claims of stellar economic growth, industrial peace, taunt rather than cheer PH workers:

For progressive unions, Aquino’s ‘stellar economic growth’ and ‘industrial peace’ are rosy reports that cheer only the corporate few who benefit from it. For the working majority, the claims sounded more like a taunt because it rested on what they call as ‘false claims’ or deception, coupled with repression.

Amid the flurries of yearender stories are boasts coming from the Office of President Benigno Aquino III that the Philippine economy is enjoying a stellar economic growth.

Malacañang has ticked off statistics and names of various credit ratings agencies to bolster its reports on growth, which supposedly bucked trends in worldwide or even just in its neighboring countries’ performance.

But if statistics were to be cited at all, the progressive labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno said that what best captures the workers’ plight in recapping 2013 is this: “P10 billion ($225 million) kickback for Napoles, P10 million ($225 thousand) pork for the SSS board, and P10 ($0.23) wage hike for workers.”
Elmer “Bong” Labog, chairman of KMU, said this illustrates better the state not only of Filipino workers but of the nation, where he said the corrupt few are getting richer while the hardworking majority are getting poorer.
(…)

2. Lowest real wage rates, record profit-taking
The government’s consistent failure in solving unemployment and underemployment not only breeds poverty as millions are denied chances to get jobs. According to KMU’s Labog, “it is also bad news for workers as capitalists, especially the big ones, exploit high unemployment to try to make workers accept lower wages, contractual employment and violations of union rights.”

The labor center said the country’s two-tier wage system, implemented since last year, remains in full effect and has mandated some even more meager wage hikes.

In Region 4′s Calabarzon, which lies immediately south of the capital, workers in its “growth corridor area” were given only a “Conditional Temporary Productivity Allowance” of P12.50 ($0.28) while in “emerging growth area,” hike in minimum wages ranged from P2.00 to P7.00 ($0.05 to $0.16), amounts which are supposed to cover the shortfall in prevailing wages and the region’s “floor wage” of P255 ($5.74).
read more.

15:15:44 local time THAILAND

* Industrial sector faces growing crisis:

The industrial sector risks losing competitiveness because of the labour shortage, a high minimum wage, infrastructure project delays, poor-quality education and energy imports, says a government think tank.

The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) forecast Thailand will be classified as an ageing society within eight years, putting pressure on the industrial sector in terms of labour supply. The proportion of citizens aged 60 and above will grow, while the number of those aged 14 and younger and working people aged 15-59 has been declining amid growing demand for industrial labour.

Meanwhile, labour costs are relatively high in Thailand compared with other Asean members, said NESDB secretary-general Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

With a daily minimum wage of 300 baht, equal to just over US$9, Thailand has the third-highest costs in Asean after Singapore and the Philippines.
Cambodia has the lowest labour costs in Asean, with a minimum rate equal to $2 a day, followed by Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia.

High costs and the worker shortage have already hit Thailand’s industrial sector, particularly in labour-intensive sectors that together require 5.7 million workers, said Mr Arkhom.
read more.

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

“Solidarity for #MW160KH”

* Crackdown turns deadly:

Gunfire at Phnom Penh’s Canadia Industrial Park today killed at least four people, a military police official said, after armed forces firing weapons stormed the area – where garment workers and supporters set fires and gutted at least one building.

“We received news from the hospital claiming that four people were killed and another 26 strikers were injured,” the military police official said on condition of anonymity.

Naly Pilorge, director of rights group Licadho, which tallied the casualties, also said four had been killed, adding that 29 others were shot in the crackdown and 12 more treated for injuries that have not been confirmed as gunshot wounds.

Rights group Adhoc has said that five people were killed in the crackdown, while Phnom Penh deputy police commissioner Chuon Narin told the Post only three people died and two were seriously injured.

The demonstration at Canadia comes amid an ongoing national strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee set a new monthly minimum wage of $95 – $65 less than striking unions demanded. The ministry raised the minimum wage another $5 earlier this week, but many workers have remained on strike.
read more.

* Three Killed as Police Open Fire on Protesters:

At least three people were killed Friday morning when police opened fire on several hundred protesters blocking a street at Canadia Industrial Park in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district, police confirmed.

“So far, three are confirmed dead, two injured and two men were arrested by armed forces,” Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Chuon Narin said shortly after the incident at about 10 a.m.

Hundreds of young men and some women armed with sticks, rocks and Molotov cocktails confronted military police armed with AK-47s, riot shields and batons on Friday, following a night of fighting between both sides in the same location.

Barricades continued to burn and rubble was strewn across the road as both sides continued to clash Friday morning and afternoon. A medical clinic was destroyed by the demonstrators—mostly striking garment factory workers—allegedly because the clinic had refused to treat those injured by military police gunfire.
read more. & read more. & read more. & read more. & read more.& read more.

* At least three killed at factory clash:

Police, some armed with automatic weapons, face off with rioting garment workers at the Canadia industrial complex in Phnom Penh on Friday morning. Photo by Heng Chivoan.

At least three protesters have been shot dead by police this morning at the Canadia industrial complex in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district, Phnom Penh deputy police chief Chuon Narin has confirmed.

The use of force came as riot police moved in to break up a demonstration by thousands of workers who blocked Veng Sreng street, the site of an ongoing demonstration that began yesterday evening and saw hundreds of riot police deployed to the area after midnight.

Only moments ago, Post reporters on the scene confirmed that the widespread use of automatic weapons fire was still ongoing.

Union leaders and rights activists reported even higher death totals.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said he had received information that four strikers had been shot dead and many more injured.

“The situation now is still tense,” he told the Post. “Why are they cracking down on us as we just demanding our salary?”
read more.

* Rights Worker Claims Five Dead in Clashes:

At least five people are dead after police opened fire on hundreds of protesters blocking a street at Canadia Industrial Park in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district, a human rights worker said Friday afternoon.

“I witnessed myself three people killed, but police I spoke to told me that at least five have been killed and 22 are injured,” said Chan Soveth, senior investigator for rights group Adhoc.
Earlier Friday, police confirmed three people had been killed.
“So far, three are confirmed dead, two injured and two men were arrested by armed forces,” Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Chuon Narin said shortly after the incident at about 10 a.m.

* Civilians killed and injured by security forces amid civil unrest in Phnom Penh:

LICADHO has confirmed that at least four civilians were shot dead and 21 injured in the worst state violence against civilians to hit Cambodia in fifteen years.

Amid risks of growing civil unrest in Phnom Penh in the aftermath of the shootings, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC) call on security forces and protestors to exercise urgent restraint on both sides to avoid any further bloodshed.

“We condemn this appalling use of extreme lethal force by security forces, said Naly Pilorge, LICADHO Director, “security forces must now put an immediate end to the use of live ammunition against civilians and ensure that all those injured are safely transported to hospital without delay.”

LICADHO monitors witnessed security forces using live ammunition to shoot directly at civilians near the Canadia Industrial Area on Veng Sreng Road at around 10am this morning. The use of live ammunition was prolonged and no efforts appear to have been made to prevent death and serious injury. Reports suggest that security forces were also injured after being hit with stones.
read more.

* Cambodia garment workers’ strike turns deadly:

At least three people were killed when security forces opened fire on striking Cambodian garment workers in the capital.

At least three Cambodians have been killed when police opened fire on garment workers on strike, as a nationwide wave of protests, backed by the main opposition party, presses on in demand for wages to be doubled.

An Associated Press photographer and human rights workers said police fired AK-47 rifles on Friday, after several hundred workers blocking a road south of the capital Phnom Penh began burning tires and throwing objects at them. Several wounded workers could be seen after the shots were fired.

Phnom Penh deputy police commissioner Chuon Narin told AFP news agency that three people had been killed and several others wounded in the capital.
read & see more. (video report).

* Cambodian Police Fire on Protesters as Clashes Turn Violent:

Military police officers fired Friday on protesters demanding higher wages for Cambodian garment workers, killing at least three people, officials said, as antigovernment protests against the decades-old rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen entered a volatile new phase.

The garment workers are demanding a doubling of their monthly wages, and they have been at the forefront of growing protests against Mr. Hun Sen’s authoritarian government. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people rallied to demand that Mr. Hun Sen step down.

But Friday’s violence south of Phnom Penh, the capital, marked a sharp escalation in the unrest. Protesters resisted police efforts to break up the demonstrations, and some threw homemade explosives, setting fire to vehicles, and pelted officers with rocks and other projectiles. As the street battles raged, the police fired live ammunition and smoke canisters to try to quell the disturbances.
read more. & read more.

* Paratroopers Deployed at Protest: 15 Detained, Injured:

More than a dozen monks, striking garment workers and journalists were beaten Thursday by members of the elite 911 paratrooper unit armed with batons, steel pipes and even slingshots during a bloody clash outside a Phnom Penh factory where a few hundred protesters gathered to demand a hike in their monthly pay.

Human rights groups said at least four monks and 10 other protesters detained at the scene were still held by the military as of Thursday evening. Another monk and one woman were being treated for their injuries at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital.

Thursday’s violence followed after protesters arrived at the gates of the Yakjin factory off National Road 4 hoping to convince workers inside to join their demonstrations for a $160 monthly minimum wage for garment workers.
read more.

* Cambodian Troops Quash Protest at Garment Factory:

Cambodian soldiers forcefully quelled a demonstration by garment factory workers who were striking for better pay Thursday, detaining Buddhist monks and labor leaders.

Soldiers from a military special command unit carrying metal pipes, knives, AK-47 rifles, slingshots and batons clashed with workers at a factory in an outlying area of Phnom Penh, local human rights group LICADHO said. Its statement said 10 people were taken into military custody and that monks and workers were beaten.

National Military Police spokesman Kheng Tito said those arrested had led hundreds of protesting workers in trying to destroy factory property by throwing stones and iron objects.

Workers at most of the country’s more than 500 garment factories are on strike, demanding an increase in the minimum wage to US$160 a month, double the current rate. The government has offered $100 a month.
read more.

* Military Special Command Unit Deployed to Crackdown on Striking Workers:

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC) are outraged by today’s violent crackdown on striking workers by a military special command unit and the consequent violent arrest of union leaders, garment workers and monks.

The use of Special Command Unit 911 to suppress demonstrations near Yak Jin factory in Phnom Penh’s Pursenchey district is unprecedented and signals a disturbing new tactic by authorities to quash what have been largely peaceful protests.

Tension escalated this morning as striking garment workers from factories close to Yak Jin industrial unit gathered to urge other workers to join the general strike for a livable minimum wage. Soldiers from the neighboring 911 military base were quickly mobilized to quash the protest, leading to two violent clashes. The soldiers were seen brandishing metal pipes, knives, AK47 rifles, slingshots and batons.
read more.

* Strike violence erupts:

A man is dragged along a dirt road outside of Yakjin garment factory after being beaten by authorities yesterday in Por Sen Chey district. Photo by Heng Chivoan.

Authorities yesterday injured dozens of union leaders, garment workers and monks, arresting at least 15 of them, in a series of crackdowns against demonstrators protesting the industry’s minimum wage.

Garment workers and their supporters who were gathered yesterday in front of the Yakjin factory, off National Road 4 in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district, said tensions between demonstrators and soldiers from a local military base guarding the factory boiled over at 9am when soldiers began unprovoked attacks on them.

The demonstration occurred amid a national garment worker strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee set this year’s minimum monthly wage for workers in the garment sector at $95 – $65 less than unions demanded. The ministry this week tacked another $5 onto the minimum wage, which will now rise to $100 next month.

As the groups stood face-to-face on the dirt road just off the main road, soldiers began throwing water bottles at demonstrators, who picked up the bottles and threw them back at soldiers, said Chean Kongkea, a 20-year-old employee at Korean-owned Yakjin.
read & see more. (video report).

* Cambodian police opens fire on striking garment workers:

Cambodian anti-riot police on Friday morning opened fire on striking garment workers, killing at least two protesters and injuring more than 10, according to a right group activist.

Chan Saveth, head of legal aid for rights group Adhoc, said the violence broke out when about 2,000 striking workers blocked a road in front of the Canadia Industrial Park to demand higher wage.
Kheng Tito, spokesman for the National Military Police, could not be immediately reached for confirmation.
According to Xinhua photojournalists at the scene, police opened fire on strikers and several workers were dead, while some others were injured.
read more. & read more.

* Cambodian police open fire on protesters, several wounded:

Cambodian police opened fire on protesting garment workers on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh on Friday, leaving several people wounded, according to an AFP photographer.

The clash comes against a backdrop of growing public protests against the kingdom’s long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Police fired warning shots in the air and then fired at the protesters, leaving at least three people injured, the photographer saw.
It is the latest in a series of violent clashes between security forces and textile workers demanding higher wages.
The incident happened after thousands of workers blocked the road in front of factories and later faced off with security personnel in the Veng Sreng area of Phnom Penh.
to read.

* Human Rights activists and workers ask to release arrested protesters:

Human rights activists and workers gathered at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to demand the release of 10 protesters who were arrested yesterday.

Vorn Pov, Independent Democracy of Informal Economic Association (IDIEA) and nine other protesters were arrested for allegedly provoking violence in a strike at a Korean-owned Yakjin (Cambodia) on Thursday.
After their arrests, human rights groups and political party condemned the crackdown by authorities.
Brigadier General Kheng Tito, military police spokesman, could not make any comment over the charges against the arrested protesters, saying that “he charges are dependent on the court”.
Kem Sokha, Deputy President of Cambodia National Rescue Party, was also found outside the Phnom Penh Court. He called for the release of the arrested protesters.
to read.

* Cambodia’s GMAC says factory closures continue due to ongoing strikes:

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said Thursday most of its 559 factories would continue to be closed due to security concerns after six pro-opposition trade unions led striking workers to destroy factories’ properties and forced workers to join their protests.

“Because of the current unrest and danger in the garment sector, the GMAC has requested the Labor Ministry to suspend the productions in these factories indefinitely,”GMAC’s Secretary General Ken Loo wrote in a request to Labor Minister Ith Samheng.
read more.

* Cambodia’s garment workers stand firm as sector reels:

One of Chenda’s biggest hopes is that she might one day make enough money to bring her daughter back to the Capital.

When the Cambodian government and unions began discussing a rise in the minimum wage for garment workers last month, she believed her six-year-old, currently living with grandparents in a neighbouring province, might be able to return home.
“I really want to bring my daughter to town, but we just can’t afford to spend money for someone to look after her,” said the 34-year-old.
When the Ministry of Labour announced they would be bumping up the $80 minimum monthly wage by only $15, Chenda, like many of her colleagues, was deeply disappointed.
read more.

20140102

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

20140101 $160 $160 We Need
“Solidarity for #MW160KH”

* Unions to Bring Demonstrations to Factory Gates:

Despite a warning from the government to end demonstrations over the garment sector minimum wage by today, union leaders said Wednesday that workers would continue nationwide demonstrations after taking a one-day break to mark the new year.

Strikes and demonstrations have been ongoing since the government decided last week to raise the minimum wage to $95, well below union demands for a $160 monthly wage. A decision on Tuesday by Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng to raise the minimum wage by an additional $5, to $100, was rejected by the non-government aligned unions.

Morm Nhim, one of six union leaders who have been told they could face legal action if demonstrations do not stop, said that workers would hold demonstrations today at individual factories.

“Most of the workers took the day off for a holiday today, but they will continue to protest tomorrow at their factories to demand the minimum wage [of $160],” she said.
read more.

* Workers block many roads in wage strike:

Thousands of workers have blocked roads in many places to demand wage increase to $160 per month.

The protests took place on Thursday at many factories in Phnom Penh, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang and Kandal provinces.
Anti-riot police forces were seen to crack down on workers at the National Road four.
After the meeting on December 31, 2013, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training decided to increase the wage from $80 to $100, starting from Feb 2014.
However, the labor union leaders still insisted on $160 per month.
read more.

* 15 people arrested in wage protest crackdown:

Military Police have arrested 15 protesters including Vorn Pov, President of Independent Democracy of Informal Economic Association (IDIEA) on Thursday for allegedly provoking violence.

The police said they were arrested because they threw rocks and damaged property of Korean-owned Yakjin (Cambodia) Inc in Kambol commune, Porsen Chey district, Phnom Penh.
The 15 arrested protesters included five monks who were identified as Meas Vichet, Thach Hasam Ang, Kong Rathanak Saray, Lay Lat and Kim Chanthorn.
Yakjin (Cambodia), located in Kambol commune, Porsenchey district, employs about 3,000 workers to produce shorts, pants, dress, hooked jacket, pajamas top, nightwear and pullover.
to read.

* Workers quietly trickle back:

Garment workers gather behind barbed wire during a strike on Monday in Phnom Penh. Photo by Vireak Mai.

As garment union groups resume their strike today, thousands of workers plan on returning to work, largely citing financial necessity rather than ideological disagreement with the unions.

The Ministry of Labour on Monday ordered union leaders to cease a nationwide strike that began nine days ago, after the ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee set this year’s minimum monthly wage for workers in the garment sector at $95 – $65 less than unions demanded. The ministry this week tacked another $5 onto the minimum wage, which will now rise to $100 next month.

“If we do not return to work, the factory will not pay us,” said Noun Bunthoeun, a worker representative at Chu Hsing Garments (Cambodia) Co Ltd in Phnom Penh, who added that more than 7,000 workers – about 80 per cent – at the Russey Keo district factory’s three branches will return today. “This does not mean we are abandoning our demand for [a minimum wage of] $160.”

Lacking financial resources is the primary motive for workers at 30 factories in Svay Rieng province, who will come back to work today, said Sok Na, a representative for the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) at the Best Way garment factory in Bavet town.
read more.

* Cambodian garment workers return to work as factories reopen, but striking unions chase workers off work:

A majority of garment and shoe workers have returned to work as factories reopened on Thursday after a week-long closure due to nationwide strikes over wage; however, protesting trade unions were still leading workers to go on strikes.

The country has about 900 garment and shoe factories with about 600,000 workers, according to Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour. The industry, the kingdom’s largest foreign exchange earner, generated 5 billion US dollars in revenues a year.

“On Thursday morning, about 500 factories have reopened and some 80 percent of the workers have returned to work,” he told Xinhua.

About 400 factories were still closed in fear of security and safety, he said, adding that striking workers were rallying in front of more than 30 factories to demand the government to double the minimum wage in the garment sector to 160 US dollars.
(…)
Sok Na, a representative for the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) at the Best Way garment factory at the Manhattan Special Economic Zone in eastern Svay Rieng Province, said about 90 percent of the workers in the zone returned to work on Thursday.

“Workers now agreed to accept the 100 US dollars minimum wage that the government announced on Tuesday,” he told Xinhua over telephone. “They all need jobs to support ourselves and families.”
read more.

* ILO urges dialogue to resolve current dispute in garment sector:

The ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR is closely following developments in the garment industry in Cambodia, particularly in relation to recent industrial unrest.

Resolving the current situation will require support from all stakeholders, workers, trade unions, government and business and its representatives. The ILO urges all of these actors to maximise efforts to find a resolution to the sit

uation. We strongly encourage all parties to intensify these efforts through channels based on the principles of social dialogue and tripartism.
read more.

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* Apparel makers set to pay workers’ wages under new structure from this month:

Doubts over proper execution by many owners

The apparel makers are getting prepared to pay wages to the workers under the newly-announced structure from this month amid doubts over its proper implementation by many owners due to an adverse impact of the country’s ongoing political stalemate on the industry, insiders said.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has already asked its member factories to pay the enhanced wages accordingly this month, as the new wage structure came into force from December 1, 2013, a BGMEA source said.

On December 26 last, the association in two separate statements asked its member factories to implement the new wage structure and clarified that factory owners can cut wages of workers who remained absent due to strike or other causes.

However, the labour leaders said the clarification relating to the deduction of wages would not be rational for the industry. Terming the clarification ‘unjust’, they alleged that the owners might misuse the loopholes of the existing laws and take strategies to deprive the workers.
read more.

* Living costs soar:

Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh releases report on 2013 prices

Consumers were hit with increased costs of living by as much as 11 percent in 2013 on the back of rising house rent, utility bills and prices of various essential food items.

“House rent is rising, keeping pace with the spiralling costs of fuel, electricity, water and commodities,” the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) said in a statement yesterday.
The consumer rights campaigner prepared a report taking into account the costs of 114 food items, 26 essential commodities and 10 utility services, the findings of which was released yesterday.
It estimated the cost of living based on weights of commodities and services in the consumer basket and found that it soared 11 percent in 2013 from the previous year. The prices of food and services rose 12 percent and house rent 10.9 percent in the course of the year.
read more. & read more. & read more. & read more.

20140101

16:15:44 local time PHILIPPINES

* No wage increase seen soon:

Despite the recent increases in the prices of basic commodities and utilities, workers may have to wait a bit longer this year for wage increases, according to officials of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

In an interview, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) has not yet monitored any supervening condition that could be used to justify an immediate wage increase.
The NWPC oversees all Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPB).
Under NWPC rules, regional wage boards could only raise the prevailing minimum wage one year after a previous wage order took effect.
read more.

15:15:44 local time VIET NAM

* Key policies come into force since January, 2014:

A large number of new policies and regulations influencing the entire socio-economic life will become effective in January, 2014.

Supreme law of Viet Nam

With 11 chapters and 120 articles (one chapter and 27 articles fewer than the previous version), the amended Constitution comes into force on January 1, 2014.

The document inherits and develops the basic principles and contents of the 1992 Constitution such as the State organization model, the socialist-oriented market economy, as well as land reclamation in favor of socio-economic development.

However, the new Constitution also consists of new contents. Accordingly, the Party closely connects with the people, serves the people, works under the supervision of the people and is responsible for the people on its decisions.

Higher minimum wage

Since January 1, 2014, the monthly minimum wage for employees increases to between VND 1.9 million (US$ 89.3) and VND 2.7 million (US$ 128).

Under the four region-based minimum wage levels, the minimum wage is VND 2.7 million (US$ 128) in Region I; VND 2.4 million (US4 114) in Region II; VND 2.1 million (US$ 100) in Region III, and VND1.9 million (US$ 90) in Region IV.

Accordingly, the new minimum wage is higher than the previous rates of VND 250,000-350,000 (US$11.8-16.5).
read more. & to read.

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

20140101 $160
“Solidarity for #MW160KH”

* Extra $5 ‘won’t woo workers’:

Garment workers gather at the Ministry of Labour during a protest yesterday in Phnom Penh. Photo by Vireak Mai.

Striking garment unions balked yesterday at the Ministry of Labour’s announcement that it would raise garment workers’ minimum monthly wage to $100, well short of the $160 they demand.

Leaders of the six union groups representing striking workers generally saw the notification of a $5 bump to the ministry’s mandated $95 wage as a sign that the government is amenable to further raising wages, but said the amount is not enough to end the ongoing nationwide strike.

“The government’s decision to increase the minimum wage to $100 is a good sign for the workers,” Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), said yesterday. “But they want more than $100.”
(…)
After the Labour Ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee last week landed on $95 for the garment sector’s 2014 minimum wage, union groups – including the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the Free Trade Union (FTU), the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC), the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions and the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) – walked off the job.

The ministry’s modest wage rise yesterday marked a distinct change of tone from Monday, when it threatened legal action against union leaders if the strike did not end by tomorrow. But the offer did little to persuade strikers to leave the picket line and return to workstations, CCU president Rong Chhun said.
“Increasing the minimum wage to only $100 does not fulfil the demands of workers and unions,” Chhun told the Post.

C.CAWDU vice president Kong Athit said strike demonstrations would halt temporarily today, but resume tomorrow, when workers will protest in front of their respective factories.

In raising the minimum wage offer at all, the Labour Ministry has sent the wrong message to strikers and their unions, said Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia.
“First of all, it came as a total surprise.… It undermines everything we’ve done before and is saying it’s OK to ignore the set rules and regulations [regarding strikes] and you’ll be rewarded,” Loo said. “Our perception is it will not solve the problem. In fact, it will make it worse.”

Along with garment workers, teachers will soon join the strike, said Chhun, who also serves as president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA). At CITA’s annual conference yesterday Chhun announced that teachers would also take their grievances to the streets beginning on January 6.
read more.

* Amid Strikes, Minister Raises Minimum Wage to $100:

A week after workers began nationwide strikes over the government’s decision to raise the garment sector minimum wage by $15 to $95, the Ministry of Labor announced Tuesday that it would now increase the monthly wage by an additional $5, to $100.

However, the leaders of six nongovernment aligned unions, who have led thousands of garment factory workers in demonstrations this week demanding a $160 minimum wage, rejected the $100 offer.

In a statement signed by Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng, the government also announced that the wage raise for garment workers must be implemented beginning in February, rather than April, as was initially planned for the $15 increase.

In the past nine months, the government has increased the minimum wage in the garment sector by 64 percent, from $61.
Prak Chanthoeun, director-general of the General Department of Labor Conflict at the Ministry of Labor, said that the additional $5 raise was made in order to appease striking workers, who have held mass demonstrations for the past two days in front of the ministry on Russian Boulevard.
“His Excellency Minister [Ith Sam Heng] made the decision to change the minimum wage because he wants to stop the protests,” Mr. Chanthoeun said.

Morm Nhim, president of the National Independent Federation of Textile Unions in Cambodia, said the offer fell short of $160 per month.
“We see that the government has relaxed its stance toward finding a solution, but we cannot accept this decision because the increase was very small,” Ms. Nhim said.
read more.

* Workers out, deadlines loom:

As mass garment strikes enter a second week, fast-approaching buyer deadlines have manufacturers fretting about transport costs and mounting bills.

At least two of Cambodia’s hundreds of garment manufacturers, which ceased operations last week after workers walked off the job demanding a 100 per cent wage increase, will consider paying more than three times their usual transport costs to meet due dates and avoid late penalties.

Nam-Shik Kang, the managing director of Injae Garment Co in Phnom Penh, said manufacturers are expecting to have to fork out thousands of extra dollars to send their shipments by air freight instead of by ship to meet the looming deadlines and avoid penalties. This scenario, however, is still contingent on workers returning to finish off orders for shipment, an unlikely prospect in the short term.
read more.

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* RMG workers stage demo in Gazipur:

Declaring a work absence from 8am, the workers stage a demonstration in the factory in pursuit of higher wages

Workers at Quader Synthetic Limited, a ready-made garments factory in the Konabari area of Gazipur, staged a demonstration on Wednesday.

Declaring a work absence from 8am, the workers staged a demonstration in the factory in pursuit of higher wages.
The workers said the owners had assured them an increase in their wages by Tk1000 from December. However, the authority had put up a notice with a different wage structure on January 1.
Earlier, the male workers of the factory were getting Tk3,250 while the female workers were receiving Tk2,800.
read more.

* Some garment makers may delay new worker wage as troubles linger:

Many garment owners may not be able to pay workers under the new wage structure from January as money flow in the sector has been squeezed by the ongoing political impasse, industry insiders said yesterday.(Tuesday)

Garment makers plan to delay implementation of the new salary structure by 15-20 days, as they will not be able to implement it in one go.
“I think 60 percent garment factories may be able to implement the new salary scale timely and the remaining 40 percent may fall behind,” said Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
More than 3.5 million workers are employed in nearly 4,000 active garment units, according to data from BGMEA.
“But the garment makers must implement the salary structure, even if there is a delay, as it was finalised by the government,” he said.
The flow of work orders also began declining as political chaos is scaring off international retailers, he said. “The volume of orders has been declining since March.”
“We hoped we would implement the new salary scale with increasing prices from the retailers. But the retailers are now reluctant to increase prices,” he said.
According to a government decision, garment makers will have to implement the salary structure from December, meaning, most workers will receive the salary by January 7.
read more.

20131231

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

$160 We Need

* Take it or leave it offer:

A garment factory worker holds a placard during a protest that saw Russian Boulevard blockaded by razor wire and riot police yesterday in Phnom Penh. Garment workers are continuing to strike across the nation, demanding a higher minimum wage. Photo by Vireak Mai.

The government took a hard line against garment-factory strikers after thousands blocked Russian Boulevard in front of the Council of Ministers yesterday, ordering them to accept a $95 minimum wage and return to work on Thursday.

Alleging that six union groups provoked the nationwide strike – which officially began last week when workers were afforded a minimum monthly wage $65 less than they had asked – the Labour Ministry’s notice warned union leaders that the government will pursue legal action if the strike continues.

“The [$95] minimum wage was the decision of the Labour Advisory Committee’s on December 24,” the notice says. “Competent legal authorities will take steadfast legal action against anyone who agitates and disturbs employees and enterprises.”

Ministry officials sent the letter to leadership at the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the Free Trade Union (FTU), the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC), the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions and the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU).

Letters were sent to unions after the Council of Ministers issued a notice to the Labour Ministry, instructing Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng to warn of harsh consequences for union leaders, and to begin legal action against CCU president Rong Chhun.
“If they do not want to stop their strike, we will suspend their license,” reads the letter, which was signed by Council Secretary Ngor Hong Ly. “If they continue striking, we will cancel their licenses; and if they still continue then, we will sue them in court.”
But because his confederation is not registered with the Labour Ministry, Chhun will face immediate legal action, the letter says.

Upon hearing of the order, Chhun told the Post that striking will continue.
“The ministry only ordered this because they do not have the ability to resolve the issue for the workers,” Chhun said. If workers had no problem with the Labour Advisory Committee’s decision last week, they would not have begun the strike in the first place, he added.
read & see more. (video).

* Gov’t Unveils Legal Plan to Break Garment Industry Strike:

As mass demonstrations by garment factory workers continued Monday, the government laid out plans to bring an end to the labor unrest within the next three days, including suing union leaders in the courts and mobilizing security forces to take unspecified action.

The Council of Ministers sent a letter to Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Monday recommending that if demonstrations don’t stop, the leaders of five nongovernment aligned unions leading the strikes should have their licenses revoked and be brought to court, while the leader of a sixth unlicensed union should be prosecuted in court immediately.

Signed by Council of Ministers’ Secretary of State Ngor Hongly, the letter offers a five-step plan to the Ministry of Labor for how to deal with the nationwide strikes.

If union leaders do not immediately stop their demonstrations, the Labor Ministry should revoke their union licenses. If demonstrations continue, the letter suggests that union leaders should be brought to court.
read more.

* Some Factories Stay Open Despite GMAC’s Call for Shutdown:

Some garment factories opened their doors Monday morning despite a notice on Sunday from the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) that all factories should stay closed until the government and striking unions guaranteed their safety.

In an open letter on Sunday, GMAC accused six unions—all known to not be aligned with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling CPP—of inciting their members to damage factory property and of coercing workers to join their protests for higher wages. GMAC said all 400-plus factories in the association would close, or stay closed, until those unions and the Labor Ministry could assure their safety.

In another statement Monday, GMAC said some factories had stayed open, but only because many workers were urging them to.

“On the morning of December 30, some members of the association who were requested by the workers to return to work and earn salary as usual forcibly opened operations under the request of the workers with hopes to support their living and their families,” GMAC said in the statement.
read more.

* Hundreds of anti-riot forces deployed as workers continue to block road:

Thousands of protesting footwear and garment factory workers, who demand minimum wage be increased to $160 per month, continue to block the road in front of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training on Tuesday.

The wage protest resumed at the ministry, after wage talks held yesterday between union leaders and government representatives failed.

During the protest, factory employee representatives shouted their demand for the resignation of Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng if he fails to find a solution to their wage crisis.

Hundreds of anti-riot forces were seen being deployed near the ministry where the workers are rallying.
read more.

* Cambodian garment workers demand higher wages:

Tens of thousands of people have marched on the streets of Phnom Penh, demanding that long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen resign. Many were garment workers, who walked out last week in a dispute over the minimum wage.

The peaceful march on Sunday, December 29, headed by opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his deputy Kem Sokha, was the largest of its kind in over a decade. Phnom Penh’s streets rang with calls for Hun Sen to quit, something that would have been unthinkable even a year ago.

The movement to unseat Hun Sen, who has been at the helm of one of the world’s most corrupt nations for nearly three decades, is being led by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
read more.

* In Cambodia, pressure mounts on a longtime leader:

Cambodian garment factory workers Then Any and Vong Pov aren’t showing up for work anymore. They make pairs of jeans sold in American stores at prices per pair higher than their $80 (48.40 pounds) monthly income and struggle to make ends meet.

It sounds like an all-too familiar story of labour disputes in one of Asia’s poorest countries, but this time it’s different. Their strike has taken on a new significance and is presenting a rare challenge to one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The pair are just 18 and have only basic education, but are among 350,000 new and powerful allies of a political opposition seeking a re-run of a July election they say was stolen from them by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
Huddled behind barbed wired fences and stared down by riot police outside Hun Sen’s offices are hundreds of factory workers demanding a doubling of wages and threatening to shut down roads and cripple an industry worth $5 billion a year.

“I can’t feed myself,” said Then Any, as workers hurled water bottles towards police lines.
Vong Pov added: “Factories must give us a raise, otherwise, we will strike continuously.”

Instrumental in courting support of disgruntled workers who make clothes and footwear for brands like Adidas, Gap and Nike is Sam Rainsy, whose once-impotent party reinvented itself this year to tap resentment and present Hun Sen with an unprecedented electoral challenge.
read more.

* Cambodia garment workers: Double minimum wage! :

Garment workers in Cambodia demonstrate in late December, demanding a doubling of the minimum wage from $80 to $160 a month.

Union leaders say more than 300,000 workers in 120 factories across the country went on strike this week in response to the Dec. 24 announcement by the government’s Labor Advisory Council that the minimum wage will be raised to $95 in April 2014 and with annual increases to $160 in 2018. Union federations are demanding an immediate raise to $160.

Workers have staged a record number of strikes this year, most of them centered on demands for higher wages. According to the Garment Manufacturers Association, there were 131 strikes from January through November, up from 121 for all of last year. Adjusted for inflation, wages today are at the same level as 2000.
read more.

* ILO expresses ‘significant concern’ over labor unrest:

The International Labour Organisation expressed Tuesday “significant concern” over Cambodia’s labor unrest and called for an immediate halt to violence and property destruction.

“The economic fallout from the protests and the industry’s response to them may impact significantly on the industry’s revenues while tarnishing the country’s reputation among international buyers,” the ILO said in a statement.
read more.

* ILO expresses ‘significant concern’ over labor unrest:

The International Labour Organisation expressed Tuesday “significant concern” over Cambodia’s labor unrest and called for an immediate halt to violence and property destruction.

* ILO urges dialogue to resolve current dispute in garment sector:

The ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR is closely following
developments in the garment industry in Cambodia, particularly in relation to recent industrial unrest.

The current disruption within such an important sector for the Cambodian economy is a cause for significant concern. The economic fallout from the
protests and the industry’s response to them may impact significantly on the industry’s revenues while tarnishing the country’s reputation among international buyers. As Cambodia’s largest industrial sector, accounting for some US$5 billion per year in exports, and some 400,000 jobs, the risks arising out of the current situation are significant for a sector which continues to operate in an intensely competitive international environment.
Resolving the current situation will require support from all stakeholders, workers, trade unions, government and business and its representatives. The ILO urges all of these actors to maximise efforts to find a resolution to the situation. We strongly encourage all parties to intensify these efforts through channels based on the principles of social dialogue and tripartism.
read more in PDF:20131231 ILO CMB resolve dispute in garment sector1.

* Industry demands government ‘action’ to protect investment, jobs:

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) called Tuesday for government action to protect private investment and jobs from continuing labor unrest.

In a statement, GMAC also appealed to the six labor leaders it named Sunday to refrain from linking private investors to their political dispute with the government.

“The Royal Government and politicians have a role to protect and create an investment climate that is favorable to the investors in the private sector so that more jobs could be created to support the development of the national economy and help reduce poverty in the country,” the statement said.
read more.

14:45:44 local time BURMA/MYANMAR

* Talks begin on minimum wage:

The Ministry of Labour has met Mandalay employers and workers to solicit advice on the setting of a minimum wage in the region.

Speaking at the meeting at Kanaung Hall in Mandalay Industrial Zone on December 24, director general U Myo Aung said the ministry wanted the minimum wage to be fair for both employers and workers.

“If the minimum wage rate is so low, the workforce won’t be satisfied and if the minimum wage is too high, employers can’t afford to pay staff and may even have to close their businesses. We are now surveying their opinion and taking their advice to set the right rate,” U Myo Aung said.
read more.

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* Will new wages better their life? :

Deprived, frustrated and frightened, the apparel sector workers have apparently been cushioned by the increased wages being implemented from this December.

The damage caused to the victims and survivors of the factory disasters in 2013 was huge and irreparable.
The workers are now trying to heal their wounds inflicted by those accidents and hope to live a better life with the raised salaries.
“New wage will definitely improve my life. We wish to live a better life as do other people,” said Sumaya, a worker of IDS Group’s garment factory in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Her salary has increased to around Tk8,000 per month from Tk5,000.
Sumaya, abandoned by her parents who are a broken couple, lives with her grandmother at a shanty room in the city.
Over 40 lakh workers employed in the country’s RMG sector had nothing other than the announcement of a new wage structure to raise their hopes of living during the outgoing year.
read more.

13:45:44 local time INDIA

* Shutdown looms as wage hike hits industry hard:

When the labour ministry decided to increase minimum wages in Haryana by more than double the amount currently offered, it was almost certain to be controversial.

While labour unions praised the step as a ‘progressive’ one, to many it still smacked of political point scoring. On the other side, industrial community has squarely opposed it.

As per the scheme, minimum wages for the unskilled category stand revised to Rs 8,100 from January 1, 2014; a clear jump from Rs 5,342 so far. “It can have a bad effect on industrial growth and employment opportunities,” said Deepak Maini, general secretary of the Industrial Development Association, Gurgaon. He said that the wage hike can only compound the economic worries of small industries, and that higher costs for labour in present conditions will lead to a large-scale “shutdown of industrial units in Haryana.”
read more.

20131230

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* CNRP calls a timeout:

After garment workers swelled turnout at the opposition’s ongoing demonstrations yesterday to what some estimated to be double the number seen at any previous rally, party leadership announced a weeklong moratorium on the marches.

Demonstrators will continue to assemble at Freedom Park each day, said Cambodia National Rescue Party MP-elect Mu Sochua, hours after protesters took to the streets yesterday. But instead of marching, protesters will hold “peoples’ conferences” – during which they will be allowed to speak freely onstage – each day from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.

“We can block a road whenever we want,” said Sochua, who added that the weeklong respite in marching will give the ruling Cambodian Peoples’ Party until January 5 to mull over a proposal CNRP members sent them on Saturday for the two parties to begin negotiations. “It has to come to the negotiation table; I don’t think we can avoid each other.”

The number of protesters marching yesterday appeared to exceed last Sunday’s estimated 100,000 people, with demonstrators continuing to demand the government increase the minimum monthly garment wage to $160 next year, rather than $95, which the Labour Ministry set last week.

In response to the growing strike, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) yesterday said that it had no choice but to close factories until the issue was resolved.

In an open letter from GMAC, the factory association warns its 473 members that protesters could pose a danger to workers and factory property.

“[GMAC] would like to inform all stakeholders that our industry is unable to continue operations given the current situation,” the letter reads. “The illegal and violent actions of … six trade unions … as well as their apparent impunity by the Ministry of Labour have left us with no other option but to close.”
read & see more. (video).

* Factories Closed Until Safety Guaranteed:

The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) on Sunday said all of the country’s 400-plus garment factories will remain closed until the government and striking trade unions can guarantee the safety of the factories and all employees who want to work.

The decision, outlined in an open letter GMAC released after a meeting of its board Sunday morning, will effectively halt the country’s largest export industry, which generated a critical $5 billion in revenue during the first 11 months of this year.

Dissatisfied with a $15 raise in the monthly minimum wage to $95, which the government approved for all garment workers last week, some unions have stepped up their strikes and protests, demanding a doubling of their wages to $160. One protest on the outskirts of Phnom Penh turned violent on Friday when workers briefly clashed with police, leaving windows smashed and at least three protesters bruised.
read more.

* Garment industry blames six unions for mass factory shutdown:

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has blamed a factory shutdown on “illegal and violent activities” by six trade unions, warning that they will be held fully responsible for losses in wages, jobs and investment.

“Our industry is unable to continue operations given the current situation,” GMAC said in an open letter dated Sunday.

The association said it had tried its best to keep operating in an “extremely difficult business and economic environment” over the years. “We have also had to put up with numerous illegal strikes and militant behavior of some trade unions.”
read more.

* Wage talks kick off without employers:

Wage re-negotiations for footwear and garment factory workers commenced on Monday, without factory employers, to end Cambodia’s widespread protests and strikes by factory workers.

Thousands of factory workers were seen gathering outside the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training where government representatives and union leaders are currently holding the talks.

GMAC (Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia) had announced on Sunday that they would not attend Monday’s wage talks.
read more.

* Wage talks fail again, protests resume:

Wage talks held Monday morning by representatives from the government and trade unions yielded no results leading to the announcement by the six unions to continue their strikes and protests throughout the country to continue their demand for USD 160 per month

However, other trade unions warned to hold counter-protests against the protests led by the six trade unions.
“It gets very risky if wages rise to $160 per month,” Chuon Momthol, leader of the pro-government Cambodian Union Federation (CUF), told reporters after this morning’s wage meeting.
“I dare to say that at least 80 percent of all factories operating in Cambodia will be closed except for the larger ones,” he said.
read more.

* Thousands protest after failed wage talks:

Thousands of protesting workers have blocked the road in front of the Office of the Council of Ministers after Monday morning’s failed wage talks.

Hundreds of anti-riot police forces and barbed wires were deployed at the site where workers have gathered.
The protest erupted after the wage talks between union leaders and government representatives yielded no results.
Factory employers refused to attend this morning’s wage talks.
read more.

“We are protesting for #MW160KH not against police” worker said.
Photo by @mosesngeth

* Cambodian Government warns to take strong action against widespread strike provokers:

The government today warned to take tough actions against those who provoke troubles for the operation of the garment manufacturers and the daily work of the workers.

“The factory employers shall resume operation and the workers shall go to work as usual on 2 January,” said the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training in its statement today aft the collapse of minimum wage talks this morning.
The ministry added that “Competent authorities will take tough actions in accordance with the laws against provokers who troubles the factories and workers”.
The ministry also said that the minimum wage (USD 95) shall be based on the decision of the 24 December.
read more.

16:15:44 local time MALAYSIA

* DAP urges govt to review minimum wage for foreign workers:

To ensure the country remains competitive, the DAP is urging the government to review the implementation of the minimum wage for foreign workers in Malaysia.

Party secretary general Lim Guan Eng (pix) said many small medium enterprises (SMEs) were forced to pay local workers higher salaries to stem unhappiness that their pay was to be on par with foreigners.
He said this development added to the cost of doing business which could be reflected by the increase of prices in goods.
“For this reason, there should be a review of extending the minimum wage to all workers by giving a grace period of five years to allow SMEs to adjust before including foreign workers,” he said in a statement today.

The minimum wage policy comes into force on Jan 1 next year with RM900 set for the Peninsular and RM800 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
read more.

20131228-29

16:15:44 local time PHILIPPINES

* Unemployment still big, wages small in 2013 – KMU:

Providing a recap of the situation of Filipino workers in 2013, national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno said today that unemployment in the country remained high while workers’ wages remained meager throughout the year.

KMU said that despite the Gross Domestic Product’s growth in 2012 and projected growth this year, unemployment remains high. It was reported in the 3rd quarter of 2012 that unemployment in the country is one of the highest in Asia and has remained unchanged for the past 10 years.

The Oct. 2013 Labor Force Survey shows that unemployment dropped only slightly to 6.5 per cent from 6.8 per cent in Oct. 2012, while underemployment dropped to 17.9 per cent from 19 per cent in Oct. 2012. These are meager reductions especially in the light of the increasing number of youths entering the labor force.
“The Aquino government continues to be a failure in solving unemployment and underemployment. This is bad news for workers as capitalists, especially the big ones, exploit high unemployment to try to make workers accept lower wages, contractual employment and violations of union rights,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.

The labor center said that the P10.00 wage increase this year in Metro Manila fails to make a dent on the growing gap between the minimum wage and the Family Living Wage. Independent think-tank Ibon Foundation puts the FLW at P1,051 as of Aug. 2013 – a far cry from the P436 basic wage in Metro Manila, the highest in the country.
(…)
“The wages of the country’s workers show that development is only for big capitalists and not for the common tao. They also show that the Aquino government and big capitalists remain uncaring, if not ruthless, towards workers,” Labog said.
read more.

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

20131228 * Workers Block Roads, Vow Further Strikes:

Thousands of striking garment factory workers blocked two major thoroughfares in Phnom Penh on Friday, demanding that the government raise the minimum wage to $160, instead of the $95 figure that was decided upon earlier this week.

An official at the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said that the majority of more than 400 factories in the association remained closed on Friday in order to protect their workers and work sites from potentially violent elements in the demonstrations.

Beginning in the morning and continuing late into the afternoon, groups of striking workers demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Labor and Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (SEZ), blocking traffic along Russian Boulevard and National Road 4.

More than 10,000 workers once again joined supporters of the opposition CNRP in Freedom Park for the 13th straight day of demonstrations calling for fresh elections and the removal of Prime Minister Hun Sen—and an increase of the minimum wage to $160.
read more.

20131228 * Violent clash as garment strike intensifies:

A nationwide garment worker strike intensified yesterday with at least one violent clash, even as authorities and Ministry of Labour officials agreed to continue negotiations with labour unions and industry officials on Monday.

More than 1,000 strikers blocked Russian Boulevard in front of the Labour Ministry yesterday, as union groups continued to demand a minimum monthly wage of $160 for garment workers next year – rather than the $95 announced Tuesday – and six additional points including a daily $3 food allowance for all workers.

Garment workers currently earn a minimum wage of $80, which includes a $5 health bonus.

A meeting of six union groups and Labour Ministry officials yesterday ended with no resolution, but the unions – the Free Trade Union (FTU), the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the Coalition of Cambodian Unions (CCU), the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), the Worker Friendship Union Federation (WFUF) and the Independent Youth Trade Union (IYTU) – will gather again Monday morning at the ministry for a negotiating session with the the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said C.CAWDU president Ath Thorn, who attended this afternoon’s meeting.

Monday’s meeting appears to be a sincere effort on the government’s part to renegotiate the $95 minimum wage, said Dave Welsh, country director of labour rights group Solidarity Center.
“I’m pretty confident that they’re looking to renegotiate the minimum wage they announced,” Welsh said after the meeting.
read more.

20131228 * Workers continue block of NR 4:

Thousands of factory workers on Saturday continue to block National Road four located in the district of Por Senchey, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Anti-riot police forces were seen being deployed at the Special Economic Zone, to maintain order and provide security for workers and the residents of the area.
The angry garment factory workers have blocked the road since Friday in their quest for a pay raise of $160 per month.
Violence broke out that same day after military-police officers tried to chase the protesters from the area in order to alleviate traffic and open up the road.
The officers also fired warning shots into the air after irate workers threw rocks at them.
read more.

20131228 * Defense Minister Warns Protesters Against Blocking Streets:

Striking garment factory workers and protesting CNRP supporters should respect people of other nationalities and make sure they act within the boundaries of the law, Defense Minister Tea Banh said Thursday.

Speaking at an opening ceremony for three new Royal Cambodian Armed Force science laboratory buildings, General Banh said that demonstrating is legal, but protesters should not block roads, and he accused the opposition of racism for its stance toward Vietnam.
“The CNRP has incited Cambodian people to hate other races of people,” Gen. Banh said. “Vietnam is very important, and we should remain friendly together as we have been for a long time.”
read more.

13:15:44 local time PAKISTAN

* ‘Minimum wages impede job creation’:

Minimum wages impede job creation and cause resentment among workers, experts said.

“In an open economy, market forces determine wages,” said market analyst Benish Toor. She said it is a simple solution for the politicians who try to gain support from masses; but for the documented industries facing high cost of doing business, it is an additional cost that erodes their competitiveness. She said in economies like Pakistan where the unregulated and non-documented sector is the main supplier of employment, it is tantamount to additional tax on the regulated sectors of the economy.

“Moreover, it discourages the documented sector from in-house training of unskilled workers at low cost, as there remains acute shortage of skilled workforce in the country.”

Unfortunately, she added, minimum wage is a bad idea, not only for the economy, but for the low wage workers who forced to have low wages in undocumented sector without any chance of improving their skills during their career.
(…)
M I Khurram, who operates two large composite knitwear units employing over 12,000 workers, said economic truth should not be ignored, while fixing minimum wage. He said when the price of a product is raised, the consumers reduce its purchase; in the same way an employer may be tempted to hire a new worker when the cost is low but would refrain from it if the hiring cost goes high. He said he had stopped recruiting apprentice unskilled workers for in-house skill training ever since the minimum wages started rising.

He said the present government declared in its manifesto to raise the minimum wages to Rs15,000 per month during its tenure from the current level of Rs9,000 per month. He said skilled workforce by that time might be earning much higher, but paying non-skilled workers Rs15,000 would be nightmare for manufacturers when a person with similar skills is employed by non-taxpaying sector at Rs5,000-6,000 per month.
read more.

20131227

16:15:44 local time PHILIPPINES

* Unemployment still big, wages small in 2013 – KMU:

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* Strike numbers swell:

Garment workers who joined CNRP supporters at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh hold protest signs and demand that the minimum wage be increased yesterday. Photo by Hong Menea.

Arriving in bursts of 20, 30 and 50 at a time, thousands of garment workers filled Freedom Park yesterday afternoon, shouting slogans and holding aloft cardboard sheets bearing the figure “$160” hand-written in marker, amid a quickly growing national strike.

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) reacted to the fluid situation earlier in the day, “strongly” suggesting its 473 member factories close until Monday in order to avoid possible strike-related violence and property damage, while the Ministry of Labour invited members of six unions to discuss a resolution at an emergency meeting today.

The explosion of strikers came two days after the Ministry of Labour announced it would raise Cambodian garment workers’ minimum wage – which now stands at $80, including a health bonus – to $95, rather than the $160 workers and unions demanded.
(…)
A letter from seven union groups – the CUMW, FTU, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the Coalition of Cambodian Unions (CCU), the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), the Worker Friendship Union Federation (WFUF) and the Independent Youth Trade Union (IYTU) – addressed to GMAC executive committee chairman Van Sou Ieng and forwarded to the Labour Ministry yesterday claimed that nearly 250,000 people would join the strike if their demands are not met within a week.

“If you cannot meet all demands within one week, the unions and workers in every [garment] factory in the country will join demonstrations,” the letter says.

In addition to an industry-wide minimum wage of $160, the letter demanded $3 for meals each day for all workers, justice for people shot during a November clash between police and striking SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd workers, and four other points.

C.CAWDU president Ath Thorn said the seven-member coalition will consider ending the strike if wages are raised to $160, but more demands may come out of the woodwork as the strike continues.
“If there’s no progress, demands will get bigger and bigger,” Thorn said yesterday afternoon.
read & see more. (video).

* Striking Garment Factory Workers Join CNRP Protest Again:

More than 10,000 striking garment factory workers again streamed into Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park throughout the day Thursday, joining opposition supporters on their 12th straight day of demonstrations and marches to demand that Prime Minister Hun Sen resign, and call a new election.

The workers, who have been on strike since Tuesday to demand the minimum monthly wage increase from $80 to $160, arrived in an string of noisy convoys that filled the park by lunchtime.
Thousands of the workers had turned out to the CNRP’s demonstration on Wednesday, and the party’s top leaders, including President Sam Rainsy, spent Thursday morning encouraging more to join the protest by visiting factories in Kandal, Kompong Speu and Kompong Chhnang provinces.

The morning consisted of the strikers dancing to music and giving brief speeches to air their grievances against Mr. Hun Sen’s government and call for the minimum wage to be raised to $160 immediately.
read more.

* Factories Advised to Close as Wage Strikes Swell:

Cambodia’s garment manufacturers were advised to temporarily shut down operations Thursday as tens of thousands of workers at hundreds of factories joined nationwide strikes over wages, disrupting a $5 billion industry that accounts for about 80 percent of the country’s exports.

Rallies led by the opposition CNRP also continued to swell, reaching more than 10,000 people in the afternoon, as workers walked off the job and spent the day in Freedom Park, joining the 12th consecutive day of demonstrations calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
read more.

* Unions announce January strikes until goals achieved:

386 labor unions in Cambodia said that they will hold massive strikes beginning in January 2014 to demand minimum wage be raised to $160 per month along with other demands.

The unions representing 249,700 workers in the garment sector sent a letter to the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) on Thursday, announcing their intent to strike.
In the letter, the unions said that they will lead workers to strike and march along the streets until their demands are met.
Apart from demanding $160 per month for the footwear and garment sectors, they also demand $3 per day for food, and factory employers keep compensation at the National Treasury to be provided to workers when the factories are closed.
read more.

* Three injured, three arrested in clash:

At least three police officers have been injured and three protesting workers arrested after a violent clash erupted in the Special Economic Zone of the Por Senchey district on Friday, according to reports.

The violence broke out after police officers at the site pushed protesting workers who were blocking National Road four.
During the clash, angry workers threw rocks and bottles at police forces.
In another part of the country, hundreds of protesting workers have blocked the road in front of the Ministry of Labor and the Prampi Makara overpass to demand that minimum wage be raised to $160 per month by 2014.
read more.

* Hun Sen Encounters ‘Choh Chenh Tov’ Chants on Drive to Airport:

Prime Minister Hun Sen got an unexpected send-off from thousands of striking garment factory workers Thursday morning when his motorcade passed the marchers along Russian Boulevard as he traveled to Phnom Penh International Airport to depart for a three-day state visit to Vietnam.

Holding paper placards demanding a salary of $160 per month, many among a crowd of between 5,000 and 6,000 garment workers chanted “Hun Sen Euy! Choh Chenh Tov! [Hun Sen get out],” as the prime minister’s car and an accompanying entourage of senior government officials passed by the marchers.

Police and members of the prime minister’s personal bodyguard unit, who normally clear the streets of the city for Mr. Hun Sen’s motorcade to pass, appeared unable to keep the marching workers out of sight, and earshot, of the premier.

Marching with the workers, Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said that 85 percent of the strikers encountered by the prime minister on Russian Boulevard had walked out of more than 20 garment factories in the city’s Choam Chao area and were en route to join the opposition party’s protest at Freedom Park.

“The worker marched from Choam Chao only to demand their main claim of wage rise,” Mr. Chhun said.
read more.

* Factories to lose millions:

The economic fallout from garment worker protests and the industry’s response is expected to cost the key sector millions of dollars while tarnishing the country’s reputation among international buyers, interviews with suppliers and figures from previous periods of labour unrest show.

Disputes over wages came to a head yesterday when the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) issued a letter to its 400-plus members urging them to cease operations for a week amid escalating protests.

The letter, which said the shutdown would avoid confrontations, came two days after unions called for a strike in response to the Ministry of Labour’s announcement that wages in the garment sector would rise to $95 in 2014, rather than the immediate hike to $160 that workers demanded.
A coalition of garment and textile unions predicts that more than 200,000 workers from 300 factories will eventually join the strike action.
read more.

* Cambodian garment industry ends 2013 on sour note with record labor unrest:

Even before the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia urged members Thursday to close their factories for three days, 2013 was already ending on a sour note for the industry.

While the December figures may not yet be available, the number of strikes and lost man-days reported by GMAC members in the 11 months to November are already the worst on record.

In June, GMAC represented 426 garment factories as well as 47 footwear factories. Together, the two sectors were employing about half a million Cambodians, mostly poor women from rural areas. Annual exports are worth more than $4 billion, accounting for about 80 percent of the country’s exports.
read more.

16:15:44 local time MALAYSIA

* MTUC Seeking RM300 Monthly COLA For 10 Million Workers:

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today proposed a RM300 per month cost of living allowance (COLA) for all the 10 million private sector workers in view of the escalating cost of living.

Its President, Khalid Atan, told bernama that it was essential for the government to introduce the regulation on COLA because almost five million private sector workers were now earning just about RM30 above the poverty line of RM870 per month.
At present the minimum wage for workers in peninsular Malaysia is RM900 and for those in Sabah and Sarawak it is RM800.
Khalid said MTUC was working out strategies to help ease the workers’ burden.
read more.

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* Minimum Wage 2013 for Bangladeshi Export Processing Zones:

On 24 December 2013 Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) announced the Minimum Wage 2013 for Garment Workers within Export Promotion Zones (EPZs) in Bangladesh.

The increase came after an approval from the Prime Minister in the Letter no. 03.068.018.04.00.024.2010-727 dated: 23 December 2013, the minimum wages, other benefits and conditions of the service for the workers of the enterprises of EPZs.

An elaborated view of the Bangladesh EPZ Minimum Wage 2013, in effect since 1 December 2013:
read & see more.

20131226

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* Strike picks up steam:

Garment workers strike outside the Chu Hsing factory to demand a higher minimum wage yesterday in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district.
Photo by Vireak Mai

A nationwide garment factory strike began to take shape yesterday, as workers took to the streets a day after the Ministry of Labour announced they would raise the industry’s minimum wage by less than a quarter of what union leaders had demanded.

Union leaders immediately decried the Labour Ministry’s decision to raise minimum salaries in the garment sector to $95 in April, rather than the $160 minimum wage they supported.

“I hope officials will negotiate again on the minimum wage in order to end this dispute,” said Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW). “If the government or the employers don’t, protests will grow larger and larger without ending.”

As of yesterday, 94 factories across Phnom Penh and several provinces had shuttered to join the strike, according to the Free Trade Union (FTU).

In a joint statement released hours after Tuesday’s decision, CUMW, FTU, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC) and the Cambodia Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) called for a national strike of garment workers until the government agreed to set the industry’s minimum wage to $160 in the coming year.
read more.

* Protesting workers block NR 2 demanding pay increase:

Hundreds of garment employees from the Macau-owned M & V International Manufacturing Ltd rallied in front of the factory on Thursday, blocking National Road two.

During the rally, protesting factory employees held banners and shouted their demand of a minimum wage increase of $160 per month.
Police forces and traffic policemen were seen being deployed to ease the traffic congestion.
Garment factory workers from two nearby factories were also seen holding their own rallies, demanding the same pay increase.
The protests and strike erupted at garment and footwear factories throughout the provinces and the capital after the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training announced the results of the wage talks.
read more.

* GMAC calls for factories to shutter:

As workers protest in their thousands, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) this morning strongly urged its member factories to close for the rest of this week, fearing strike-related violence.

“If the workers are working in the factories, some bad elements of the demonstrators will go around and destroy your factories gates and properties in order to force the workers out to join the demonstration to demand a wage of US$160,” reads a letter sent by email and obtained by the Post. “It is safer if there are no workers in the factories.”

Five labour unions called for a nationwide strike on Tuesday, hours after the Ministry of Labour announced that the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment sector would rise next year from the current $80 – including a $5 health bonus – to $95, rather than the $160 workers want.
read more.

* Striking Factory Workers Join CNRP Protests:

More than 10,000 garment factory workers joined opposition CNRP protests Wednesday in Phnom Penh, while tens of thousands more went on strike at factories across the country, following the government’s decision on Tuesday to raise the minimum wage to $95, a figure that fell well short of workers’ demands.

Leaders of the country’s independent and opposition-aligned unions said that workers at more than 120 garment factories in five provinces were on strike over the government’s decision to raise the minimum wage by just $15, falling $65 short of their demand for a $160 monthly wage.
read more. & read more.

* Protest paths converge:

Drawing on leader Sam Rainsy’s deep connections to the labour movement, the Cambodia National Rescue Party announced plans to mobilise strikers at factories this morning and lead thousands on marches around Phnom Penh.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said last night that elected lawmakers would be sent to factories to meet workers striking over the garment sector’s minimum wage.
“We will invite them to Freedom Park, and in the afternoon, we will march together around the city,” he said.
(…)
Although opposition demonstrations since July’s election have invariably involved garment workers, only in recent days – as they have begun striking across the country – has the CNRP intensified its focus on them.

The industry’s 400,000-plus workers are considered a demographic that contributed to the CNRP making significant gains at July’s election, which was awarded to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, 68 seats to 55.
read more.

* Pro-opposition’s trade unions rally against low wage hike for 2014 in Cambodia :

An estimated 3,000 garment workers from various factories rallied at the capital’s Freedom Park on Wednesday to protest against the low wage hike for 2014.

The strike was led by pro-opposition trade unions.
It happened a day after the government decided to raise a monthly minimum wage for a garment worker to 95 US dollars from April onwards from the current 80 US dollars.
Labor Minister Ith Samheng said Tuesday that the government also set to raise 15 US dollars for 2015, 16 US dollars for 2016 and 17 US dollars in both 2017 and 2018, so a garment worker will fetch a monthly minimum wage of 160 US dollars from 2018.
However, pro-opposition’s trade unions demanded to double the wage for workers from 2014.
read more.

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* Tk 5600 minimum wage for EPZ RMG workers to be fixed:

By DailyStar

The minimum wage for garment workers at the entry-level is set to be fixed at Tk 5,600 for factories in the country’s export processing zones (EPZs), higher by nearly 46 per cent than the existing amount.

A proposal of the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) to that end recently got the nod from the Prime Minister’s Office, sources said.

According to the proposal, a new wage structure for readymade garment (RMG) workers in the EPZs, including the minimum wage, will take retrospective effect from December 01 last.

Nazma Binte Alamgir, general manager of BEPZA, told the FE that the BEPZA had set Tk 5,600 as the minimum wage for the entry-level garment workers and it would be effective from December 01.

Another BEPZA official said the workers would get the wages in terms of the dollar value, but the wage would not be less than the fixed amount, even if the value of the US dollar falls against the local currency.
read more. & read more.

13:45:44 local time INDIA

* Minimum wages set to rise by 52%:

From January 1, the lowest paid workers in the unskilled category in Haryana will be allowed to take home Rs 8,100 a month, which is a significant leap ahead from the current salary slab that offers only around Rs 5,341 as the minimum wage.

While many see this as an election gimmick – both the general elections and Haryana assembly polls are slated to be held in 2014 – government officials say that the wage revision process was inspired by concerns more to do with economics rather than the electorate. High inflation and a steadily rising cost of living in places like Gurgaon, the labour ministry said, was the spur to this wage hike.

“The wage revision has nothing to do with elections. We have been getting appeals from workers throughout the state demanding higher wages, and we have responded only to that,” Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, the labour and employment minster for state, told TOI. The ministry has been flooded with petitions filed by workers’ groups from different parts of Haryana, demanding wages proportionate to the demands of the market. On the question of how efficiently will the new wage scheme be implemented in a state notorious for its rampant violation of labour laws, the minister invoked the need for ‘strict enforcement of law.’
read more.

20131225

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* Home for the holidays:

Employees at hundreds of garment factories walked off the job yesterday after five labour unions called for a nationwide strike in the wake of the Ministry of Labour’s decision to raise the sector’s minimum wage by $15 next year, rather than the $80 increase they desired.

Yesterday morning, Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng announced that the monthly minimum wage for employees at garment and shoe factories – which now stands at $80, including a $5 health bonus – will rise to $95 in April.
Wages will climb another $15 in 2015, then $16 in 2016 and $17 in both 2017 and 2018, reaching a total of $160 by 2018.

The news was greeted with consternation by independent unions.

“We will go on strike because what we got is so much less than what we demanded,” said Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU). “Workers must demand more because they still earn low wages.”

In a joint statement released hours after the ministry’s decision, C.CAWDU, the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC), the Cambodia Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) and the Free Trade Union (FTU) declared more than 200,000 union workers at 300 factories will strike until the government agrees to set the minimum wage at $160.
read more.

* Monthly Wage Increased to $95, Unions Vow to Strike:

The government announced Tuesday that the minimum wage in the garment sector will be raised to $95 in April, a 19 percent increase over the current $80 monthly wage, as the first step in a five-year plan to raise the minimum wage to $160 by 2018.

Following the decision, which fell well short of unions’ demands for a 100 percent increase in the minimum wage next year, small-scale strikes and protests broke out across the country, while leaders of the country’s independent and opposition-aligned unions said they would organize nationwide strikes to force further increases.

Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng told reporters following the meeting of the Labor Advisory Council, the multiparty body that approves wage changes, that the government had given equal consideration to the demands of workers and factory owners.
“We wanted to raise wages more than this, but we couldn’t because raising the minimum wage depends on many factors, including living standards, production and competition to attract investors from neighboring countries,” Mr. Sam Heng said.

Despite the increase, wages in Cambodia remain among the lowest amid major garment-producing countries. Wages in China, Vietnam and Indonesia have increased sharply in recent years. Earlier this month, Bangladesh raised its minimum wage by 77 percent to $68.
(….)
Ath Thorn, CCAWDU’s president, who was one of the two union leaders who voted against the government’s proposal, said that his unions would not heed the labor minister’s warning not to protest.
“We will issue an announcement to reject the wage raise and we will prepare to hold a mass demonstration across the country to demand a higher wage raise,” Mr. Thorn said.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union (FTU), said that his members had already started striking over the decision, and predicted that union leaders would not be able to prevent more strikes in the coming days.
read more.

* CNRP sees allies in strikers:

Amid workers walking off the job in protest over the minimum garment wage, opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha last night threw their support behind widespread strikes.

On the 10th day of opposition demonstrations in the capital calling for Prime Minister Hun Sen to either resign or call a snap election, Rainsy and Sokha said that if garment workers strike en masse throughout the country today – as some unions have already begun to do – the climate will benefit the CNRP.

“From tomorrow,” Rainsy said at Freedom Park last night, “the situation for garment workers is going to change – and so is the political situation.
read more.

* Factory workers rally alongside opposition at Freedom Park:

Hundreds of footwear and garment factory employees rallied alongside the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) on Wednesday at Freedom Park to demand the country’s minimum wage rise to $160 per month.

The factory workers joined in the opposition’s protest a day after the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training announced that wages will only be increased from $80 to $95 per month in April 2014.
The talks held yesterday between representatives from the government, factories and unions agreed to raise minimum wage for footwear and garment factory employees from $80 to $95 in 2014, $110 in 2015, $126 in 2016, $143 in 2017 and $160 in 2018.
read more.

* Rainsy mobilizing workers to protest in Bavet:

Sam Rainsy, head of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), is in Svay Rieng on Wednesday to gather footwear and garment factory employees from the area to join in wage rally held in the town of Bavet.

Speaking to a crowd of workers, he announced that he will provide transportation for all factory workers in Svay Rieng to join in the Bavet rally.
“This is the time for all workers throughout the country to unite and rally to demand $160 per month,” he said.
read more.

* Protest against new wage of $95 is illegal: Labor Ministry:

The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training on Wednesday said that any activities made by the unions against the minimum wage of $95, agreed upon by the Labor Council, are against the law.

After the wage talks yesterday, the Labor Council agreed to raise the salaries of footwear and garment factory workers from the current $80 to $95 in 2014, $110 in 2015, $126 in 2016, $143 in 2017 and $160 in 2018.

The ministry said that the raise showed the efforts of the Cambodian government, employers and unions in promoting the livelihoods of Cambodian workers, while not negatively affecting the factories, and investments in Cambodia, according to a ministry statement.

“Any unions that hold protests against the decision made by the Labor Council Committee is committing an illegal act, affecting democratic procedure and themselves,” said the statement.
“The unions holding the protests must take full responsibility for their action before the law, and any consequences resulting from the protest incitement.”
read more.

14:45:44 local time BURMA/MYANMAR

* Low wages cause labour disputes, says trade union:

Workers on strike at Myanmar Handsome Garment Factory, Yangon Region. (Photo – Thet Myo Min/ EMG)

Low wages are the main cause of conflicts between employers and employees in factories, according to a survey taken by Myanmar Labour Union for “setting minimum wages and basic living costs.”

The survey said that workers’ low incomes have resulted in criminal offences, decreased productivity, conflict with employers, unethical behaviour, corruption and other serious social consequences.

Children of poor workers are usually deprived of education, as their parents cannot afford to send them to school, according to the survey. To solve these issues, it has called for the government to take measures to control rising commodity prices and enact a minimum wage law as soon as possible.

The interim labour union also stated that the average living cost for a family of three with a father, mother and a primary school-aged child is about Ks 182,910 (US$ 200) per month. However, factory workers who go on strike over low wages normally earn between Ks 25,000 (US$ 25) and Ks 30,000 (US$ 30) per month.
read more.

14:15:44 local time BANGLADESH

* EPZ RMG workers’ minimum wage Tk5,600:

New wage structure will get retrospective effect from December 1

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) has set Tk5,600 as the minimum wage for the readymade garments workers employed by the factories located in the country’s EPZs.

The workers would also enjoy a yearly increment of 10% on the basic wages.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday approved the new wage structure, BEPZA officials said.

The workers will get salary on the basis of current dollar value, but the wages will in no way decrease if the dollar devalued against the local currency, an official told the Dhaka Tribune, requesting anonymity.
As per the new wage structure, the basic salary for entry level workers will be Tk3,600 and medical allowance would be Tk560.
read more.

20131224

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* Nationwide protest for raise in pay may occur: union leader:

A prominent union leader on Tuesday announced that factory employees will rally throughout the country to demand minimum wage be raised to $160 per month in 2014.

Chea Mony, President of Free Trade Union of Workers of Cambodia (FTUWC), made his announcement after the Ministry of Labor and Vocation Training announced their results of the wage talks earlier today.
read more.

* Workers protest after wage talk results:

Hundreds of garment factory employees on Tuesday gathered in front of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training protesting the results of the wage talks.

The protesters surrounded and blocked the gates of the ministry with union leaders, representatives from the government and factories still inside.

Instead of achieving the $154 per month raise in wages the factory employees asked for, representatives from government, garment factories and labor unions decided to raise minimum wage from the current $80 to $95 in 2014, $110 in 2015, $126 in 2016, $143 in 2017 and $160 in 2018.

“This result was fruitful even though it doesn’t meet all of the demands requested by the workers,” said Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng after the talks.
read more.

* Keep striking for $160, Rainsy urges:

Ahead of today’s Ministry of Labour announcement of a minimum wage increase for Cambodia’s apparel sector, opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday urged striking workers in Svay Rieng province to hold out until their monthly salary is raised to $160.

“[Garment] workers should not return to work until the government raises their minimum wage to $160,” Rainsy said in Bavet town to thousands of workers from Svay Rieng’s Manhattan and Tay Seng special economic zones. “We have to be together, I support all of you until you reach success, and I’ll be with you and protect you all.”
read more. & read more.

* Turmoil marks year in labour:

When unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) signed a memorandum of understanding in October last year, both sides were confident strikes in the Kingdom’s biggest export sector could be kept to a minimum.

“I believe strikes will be reduced, and we will solve our issues through legislative procedures,” Cambodian Labour Union Federation president Som Aun said at the time.
But despite intentions – and a $14 increase to the minimum wage for garment workers in May – 2013 has seen strikes in record numbers.
Not counting December, GMAC has recorded 131 strikes this year, the most since it began collecting data in 2003, and up from 34 in 2011, when a previous MoU was in place.
During strikes this year, a bystander has been shot dead by police, two women have miscarried after clashes with authorities, unionists have been jailed for months and factories have lost millions of dollars.

Building tensions
From the outset, 2013 shaped as a year of unrest in the Kingdom’s garment sector, which produces more than 85 per cent of total exports.
(…)
Low wages
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said the majority of strikes this year occurred due to low wages.
“Most of them happen because the discussions about increasing wages just take too long and often do not reach a suitable resolution,” he said.
As for the MoU, Mony said both employers and workers rarely abided by it.
“It’s good if both parties respect it, but [right now], the MoU has no effect on workers and employers.”
Dave Welsh, country manager for labour-rights group Solidarity Center, said he was still a supporter of the MoU.
read more.

13:45:44 local time INDIA

CITU seeks better facilities for women:

The members of the Udupi district unit of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a dharna in front of the Clock Tower here on Saturday demanding better facilities for working women.

Speaking on the occasion, Bilkis, convener of Working Women’s Coordination Committee of CITU, said that though atrocities against working women was on the rise, the government and other authorities were doing little to stop it.
The system appeared to have become insensitive to the problems faced by the working women.

The CITU wanted the women working in all sectors to be given a minimum salary of Rs. 10,000 per month. They should also be given job security.
Equal pay should be given to both men and women as per the Equal Remuneration Act 1976. There should be no discrimination in service conditions, promotions, training and transfers for working women, she said.
to read.

* Women labourers stage protest:

Women who eke out a life doing manual labour staged a dharna demanding job security and protection of their wages.

Women workers along with activists of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a dharna demanding equal wages for men and women, minimum wages and job security.
Women were being called contract workers, casual labour, part-time workers, piece-rate workers other titles only to be underpaid.

Women doing manual labour in all sectors should be given maternity leave and other facilities like a crèche, drinking water, rest area and proper toilets near the work site. The employers should also ensure that safety was provided to the woman workers after they leave the work site, demanded the activists.
to read.

20131223

15:15:44 local time CAMBODIA

* No End in Sight for Svay Rieng SEZ Strikes:

A union official at the center of a strike that started last Monday and involves an estimated 30,000 workers from two special economic zones (SEZs) in Svay Rieng province said Sunday that he has no control over the strikers, and does not know when or if they will return to work.

The 36 factories involved in the strike remained shut and workers remained at home on Friday and over the weekend in Bavet City’s Manhattan and Tai Seng Bavet SEZs, said Chheng Chhoan, secretary-general of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers.

“I’m not sure if they’ll come back to work or not. I’ve tried to explain to those workers that, on the minimum wage topic, a solution might not be found now,” he said.
“I explained to them all that if they do not come back to work, there will be no good results, but they don’t listen to me. Most just say they will not come back to work unless their demands are met with success.”

The strikers have said they will continue protesting until their minimum monthly wage is increased to $154.
The Labor Advisory Council (LAC) is set to meet on Tuesday to decide on proposals to increase the minimum wage. The Council of Ministers on Friday decided to recommend incremental yearly minimum wage increases to bring it to $160 by 2018.
read more.

* Unionist firings inspire walkout:

About 1,000 workers at a Kandal province garment factory walked off the job on Saturday after management there fired eight employees who attempted to start a new union.

Management at Sixplus Industry Co, Ltd originally sacked 13 union activists on Friday afternoon, but later that evening said they would allow five of them back to work, said Mai Bun Hai, president of the new Independent Union for Worker Solidarity.

“They told me that they will allow us to create the union inside the company if we obey their wishes, but I declined and they sacked us immediately,” Bun Hai said yesterday.

Sixplus’ is now home to two unions: the Free Trade Union and the Labour of Khmer Children Union. Nearly 800 employees there have thumb-printed a petition demanding the reinstatement of the eight fired unionists, Bun Hai said.
The dismissals are a clear violation of Cambodia’s labour law, said Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center.
Officials from Sixplus could not be reached for comment.
read more.

* Sam Rainsy protests with workers in Bavet:

Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy joined a rally on Monday, initiated by garment factory employees in the town of Bavet.

“I’m protesting with workers in the Manhattan Special Economic Zone in the town of Bavet, Svay Rieng province, to demand a raise in salary, ” he posted on his Facebook page.
During the rally, Sam Rainsy, urged protesting garment employees not to go to work unless they receive $160 per month.
Around 28,000 workers from the Manhattan Special Economic Zone as well as Tai Seng I and Tai Seng II have been on strike since December 17.
read more.

* INTRO- INFO about Living Wage

* A living wage = a human right
* The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA)
* The Clean Clothes Campaign calling for living wage

* Overview of Articles in the News:

20140306
CAMBODIA
* Unions expect violence, but forum to go on
* Support the Cambodian Garment Workers Struggle! Donate to their Strike Fund!

MALAYSIA
* MTUC Wants Labour Department To Conduct Regular Checks At Work Places

20140305
CAMBODIA
* Park off limits; unions defiant
* City Hall Denies Unions Permission for Freedom Park Forum
* CNRP Looks for Quieter Plan of Action as Labor Strike Looms
* Factory ignored direct order: cops
* End Right to Unionize, Businesses Ask Hun Sen
* Cambodian PM says no more tolerance for illegal protests
* Hun Sen says wage hikes should be linked to increased productivity

BANGLADESH
* Minimum Wage in the RMG Sector of Bangladesh: Definition, Determination Method and Levels
* Jute mill workers block road in Khulna

20140304
CAMBODIA
* Workers ‘locked inside’ during overtime strike
* In Vietnam, ‘they don’t shoot their workers’; in Cambodia, they do

MALAYSIA
* Ministry Seeks Public Suggestions On Minimum Wage

INDONESIA
* Indonesia Seeks Investment Gain as Thai Turmoil Bolsters Rivals

INDIA
* Trade unions plan mass protest

20140303
CAMBODIA
* Unions plan forum
* Cambodian workers to be “hardest hit victims” if minority unions still plan strikes: GMAC

MALAYSIA
* 100 Employers To Face Music For Not Implementing Minimum Wage

20140228
CHINA
* Migrant worker wages increased by 14 percent in 2013

CAMBODIA
* Cambodian government must urgently restart dialogue with unions

INDONESIA
* Next government must address labor productivity : Experts

EGYPT
* Striking workers not included in the minimum income system: Ministry of Finance

20140226
CAMBODIA
* Workers in 200 factories boycott overtime work
* Strike Justified, Suppression Not, Experts Say
* Boycott a tough call for many
* As Workers Boycott Overtime, CPP Goes on Counteroffensive
* Hun Sen warns strikes will lead to factory closures
* Cambodian PM holds opposition-backed unions responsible for future factory closures due to strikes
* Made in Cambodia: Garment Workers Fight Gap, H&M and Others for a Minimum Wage
* Cambodian garment workers take new approach to strikes

BANGLADESH
* Garment Worker, Organizers Beaten in Bangladesh

INDIA
* IFTU stages dharna

20140225
CAMBODIA
* Overtime boycott under way
* Garment Workers Begin Boycott of Overtime

20140224
CAMBODIA
* Overtime strike set to begin
* Unions Set to Begin First Phase of Nationwide Strike
* Unions begin campaign to call on workers to boycott working overtime

20140222-23
CAMBODIA
* 800 garment workers on peaceful strike

MALAYSIA
* Minimum wages and new salary schemes will increase Malaysia’s household income

BANGLADESH
* IndustriALL urges govt to make labour law compliant with ILO standards

INDIA
* Power loom units go on strike

20140221
CAMBODIA
* GMAC warns of factory closures if unionists insist on $160 per month
* Made in Cambodia: A Multi-Fiber Thread of Tears

BURMA/MYANMAR
* Shoe factory workers strike against low wages

20140220
CAMBODIA
* Global unions and brands meet with Cambodian government
* BetterFactories Media updates

20140219
PHILIPPINES
* Labor group welcomes less tax on 13th month, bonus

CAMBODIA
* Raises pending, prices soaring

INDIA
* Power loom units to go on strike

20140215-16
CAMBODIA
* Authority warns as unionists ready to convince 100, 000 workers to join nationwide strike
* Garment unions regroup, plan peaceful strike in March

INDONESIA
* Indonesia – minimum wage must equal living wage now!

BANGLADESH
* New wage implementation- RMG workers`human chain
* Take effective measures to ensure workers’ welfare: PM

INDIA
* Sonia promises uniform minimum wages

20140214
CAMBODIA
* Brands set for gov’t sit-down
* From Cambodia’s prisons, workers’ voices are still being heard
* Cambodia garment worker dreams of better future

BURMA/MYANMAR
* Myanmar conducting survey to set minimum wage
* Calculating a Living Wage
* FWF Wage Ladder

20140213
CAMBODIA
* Strike strategy shifts
* Unions Plan 2nd Round of Mass Strikes
* Labor unions warn of nationwide strike next month

20140212
CAMBODIA
* Labor Ministry Ignored Its Own Research on Minimum Wage

MALAYSIA
* FMM: Review minimum wage

INDONESIA
* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates

INDIA
* Wage agreement reached for NTC workers

20140210
CAMBODIA
* When Freedom Meets Oppression: Timeline of Recent Events
* Court under pressure to free 23 protesters in jail

MALAYSIA
* MTUC wants RM300 Cola

BANGLADESH
* The economics of min wage: Good intentions, bad outcomes

20140207
CAMBODIA
* Poverty Wages Unraveling Cambodia’s Garment Industry
* Threat of ‘mass strike’ looms
* Unions to March After Failure to Address Minimum Wage
* Garment workers to receive USD 100 per month from February

20140206
CAMBODIA
* Free the 23 and give workers a living minimum wage of USD$160 a month
* Strike threat remains as Cambodia wage dispute drags on
* Labor union leaders discuss protest plan
* Union leaders delay protest

INDIA
* Cheap labour and competitiveness

20140205
CAMBODIA
* ‘Workplace inequality pervasive’
* Union eyes morning wage meet
* Unions Argue Over Wage Committee Reforms

PAKISTAN
* Pakistan Textile garments and leather workers federation meeting

20140204
CAMBODIA
* Global day of action to free Cambodian garment workers
* Cambodia: Garment Factories Thwarting Unions
* End the ‘union-busting’: HRW
* Human Rights Watch Says Anti-Union Activities Must End

INDONESIA
* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates

BANGLADESH
* Govt requests global apparel buyers to raise prices
* Tofail urges global buyers to increase RMG prices as per workers’ wage hike
* Garment orders coming back on track
* Tofail urges buyers to raise apparel price

20140131
INDIA
* Wages of hosiery workers to go up by 4%

20140129-30
GLOBAL
* Reducing inequality will boost economic growth

CAMBODIA
* Right to strike ‘fundamental’
* Cambodian workers fight for a living wage
* Life on $3 a Day: Garment Workers and Cambodia’s Struggle for Human Rights

BANGLADESH
* MWB won’t include new post
* BGMEA to press for apparel price raise to meet wage hike
* Body agrees on guideline for sweater factory workers
* Guidelines for sweater factory workers in offing

INDIA
* NTC wage talks postponed

20140128
GLOBAL
* Living Wage Engineering – new FWF Report
* Reducing inequality will boost economic growth

CHINA
* Income disparity continues to rise in China
* 8.8% salary hikes expected for 2014

PHILIPPINES
* TUCP proposing low-cost dorms for minimum wage earners

CAMBODIA
* Union reps fired after strike
* Poipet to see new economic zone
* BetterFactories Media updates 18-28 January 2014,

INDIA
* NTC workers observe fast

20140127
THAILAND
* Reeling from the Wage Hike

BURMA/MYANMAR
* Minimum wage move takes a big step forward
* Parliament to discuss minimum wage issue in June

20140125-26
CAMBODIA
* Two arrested, many injured as clash breaks out at Freedom Park
* More violence at Freedom Park
* Cambodian police again clash with anti-government protesters
* Cambodia blocks garment workers’ protest

BANGLADESH
* 20% RMG workers to lose job
* Labour protests in Savar

INDIA
* NTC wage talks to continue today

20140124
GLOBAL
* Wages – How the Workers See It
* Wages – What Should Fashion Brands Do?
* Labor Wants Its Say at Davos

CAMBODIA
* Workers strike again to demand strike pay
* Unions to Proceed With Mass Rally in Freedom Park Despite Ban
* Legal actions to be taken against protest leaders: Interior Ministry
* NGOs Continue to March to ‘Free the 23′
* More solidarity for Cambodian workers
* Unions take big picture view

MALAYSIA
* No review of minimum wage
* Study On Minimum Wage System To Be Done By Mid Year

INDONESIA
* Labor Minister Decries Low Wages

BANGLADESH
* Bangladesh garment factories failing to pay minimum wage
* 38% of RMG factories yet to implement new wages
* No new wage in 38pc of Dhaka factories
* 40% garment units fail to pay new wage

INDIA
* Mill workers to continue strike

20140123
GLOBAL
* The Right to a Living Wage
* Davos 2014: Unions call for leaders to reshape the world economy with jobs and decent wages
* When the rich fix the rules, the poor lose

CAMBODIA
* Minimum wage up for ministerial discussion
* Cambodia’s 64 trade unions urge gov’t to take legal action against gangster unions
* 64 labor unions oppose protest planned for Jan 26
* Pro-Government Unions Call for Action Against Leaders of Strikes
* After Arrests, NGOs Continue Petitioning to ‘Free the 23′
* Petitioners set for Round 2 of showdown with City Hall
* Civil society groups appeal for international intervention for the release of 23 protesters

INDONESIA
* Workers stage rally against electricity tariff hike

BANGLADESH
* Garment workers demonstrate demanding new salaries in Savar

20140122
CHINA
* Rising labor costs steer manufacturers offshore

CAMBODIA
* Cambodian garment workers’ battle for labour rights deserves our support

MALAYSIA
* Textile Body Wants Minimum Wage Policy Withdrawn
* Minimum Wage: No more excuses please

BANGLADESH
* Garment workers of Nurjahan Apparels Limited:

20140121
ASIA
* Call for end to cheap labour trend in South Asia

CAMBODIA
* Time for a New Global “Abolitionist” Crusade
* The human right to a living wage is far from being won in Cambodia
* Union Leader Released; ‘Free the 23’ Protests To Continue

MALAYSIA
* Minimum Wage: No more excuses for employers

INDONESIA
* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates

20140118-20
CHINA
* Shenzhen raises minimum wage by 13%

CAMBODIA
* Brands call for trade union law
* Global unions and 30 major brands call on Cambodian government to investigate deadly violence
* What’s the Price of Workers’ Lives in Cambodia?
* Treating garment workers in Cambodia as terrorists
* Despite Violence, Cambodian Workers Vow To Continue Their Fight

BANGLADESH
* Agency sees 88 labour leaders’ hand in RMG sector unrest
* Democratic labour law demanded
* Regular payment of wages can help reduce 50pc RMG unrest
* RMG workers unrest in Savar
* Garment Factories facing unrests on the first month of the new wage system
* A worker’s ordeal – unrests due to incorrect wages
* Committee formed by govt to sit this week

20140117
CAMBODIA
* One Garment Strike Ends, Two Begin, Over Missing Pay
* Retail associations urge talks
* Cambodia versus ‘cheap China’

BURMA/MYANMAR
* Myanmar to announce minimum wage by end of year

20140115-16
ASIA
* Southeast Asia’s wage hikes
* Asia accidents help drive up factory audits

CHINA
* 26 provinces raise minimum wage

CAMBODIA
* Manhattan workers on strike again
* Strike action still on table, unions say
* Labor unions ask to resume talk, set up scientific wage system
* Unions Warn of More Strikes Unless Wage Talks Resume
* Garment Workers Continue Striking Over Unpaid Wages
* Despite Violence, Cambodian Workers Vow To Continue Their Fight
* Garment Workers Go Back on Strike Over Unpaid Wages
* Wages on par with regional standard: PM
* Hun Sen Says He’s Here to Stay; Higher Wages Must Wait
* PM’s Reaction to Demand for Double Pay Rise

MALAYSIA
* Govt to take action on employers not paying minimum wage
* Guan Eng: Cabinet committee meaningless without floor wage hike

BANGLADESH
* RMG workers want minimum wage, protest owners’ ‘unethical’ acts
* RMG wage board asks for list of missing posts
* Implementation of new wage for RMG workers demanded

20140113-14
VIET NAM
* Labour market to see minor wage growth in 2014

CAMBODIA
* Hun Sen: Minimum wage of workers cannot be increased to USD160
* Huge spike in strikes: report
* Free Trade Union Reports Overall Jump in Labor Strikes in 2013
* Government Urged to Ease Pressure on Unions
* Pressure grows for reforms of Cambodia garment industry
* The ITUC Is Watching You Too
* Cambodia: Statement from International Trade Union Mission
* Unions Want Government, Factories to Resume Wage Talks
* Cambodian garment workers: The skin of their teeth, the shirt on your back
* Blood on our backs

INDONESIA
* BetterWork Indonesia Media Updates

BANGLADESH
* RMG workers stage demo in capital
* RMG wage board to sit Wednesday
* Missing posts to be included in new RMG wage structure

20140110-12
GLOBAL
* Op-Ed | Garment Workers Deserve a Global Minimum Wage

MONGOLIA
* MPP demands a 30% minimum wage increase

CHINA
* Nation’s salary growth strong: Report

VIET NAM
* Labour market to see minor wage growth in 2014

PHILIPPINES
* Labor group seeks TRO on SSS premium hike

CAMBODIA
* Stop the violence against Cambodian garment workers
* Groups Demand Mandatory Minimum Wage, Threaten Protest
* Committees to ‘Research’ Minimum Wages, ‘Study’ Killings
* Cambodian garment workers return to work; firms sue unions
* World Retailers Want Negotiations in Cambodia Labor Dispute
* Big brands must act on Cambodia’s pay crisis
* Families of Killed and Missing Protesters Compile Complaint
* Lawyers Prevented From Seeing Protest Detainees at CC3
* 100 Factories Suing Unions Behind Strike
* Cambodia unions face court action over strike
* One week later: Coming to terms with Cambodia’s brutal protest crackdown
* Despite bail, 15-year-old still in jail
* Over $1,500 Raised for Paralyzed Protester
* Svay Rieng garment workers fired, suspended
* To understand Cambodia’s labor crackdown, open your closet
* Garment sector economics
* Groups condemn Cambodia worker crackdown
* Cambodia: Stop government violence against workers

BANGLADESH
* RMG workers block Dhaka-Aricha highway in Manikganj
* Workers being fired only to be hired on contract:
* Committee formed to end row over sweater factory worker payment:
* RMG workers block Dhaka-Aricha highway in Manikganj
* RMG workers stage demo for govt-fixed wages in Manikganj
* Savar RMG workers demonstrate demanding new salaries

20140108-09
CHINA
* Gov’t campaign to ensure migrant workers’ wages

CAMBODIA
* Silence broken at last
* Twenty-Three Arrested Protesters Held in Kompong Cham Prison
* As Strikers Return to Work, Factories Sue Garment Unions
* Strikers fired in Svay Rieng
* For Workers, Wage Rise Is Shift From Surviving to Thriving
* Fashion Backward: Cambodian Government Silences Garment Workers
* Conflicting Figures on Number of Slain at Garment Protest
* Clothes Made in Cambodia Are Tainted in Blood
* GMAC Doesn’t Support Violence to End Industrial Disputes
* Cambodia’s Garment Industry Dilemma
* UN rights body seeks probe into shootings
* SL protester, 15, released after months
* Workers in Russey Keo return to work after weeks of strike
* Gap to H&M Urge Talks to End Cambodian Workers’ Pay Clash
* Rare gov’t insight in Korea docs
* South Korean Embassy Denies Role in Strike Suppression
* BetterFactories Media Updates 28 December 2013- 9 January 2014, Wages and widespread strike in Cambodian garment industry

BANGLADESH
* Ctg EPZ workers agitate for newly hiked wages
* RMG workers’ clash hurt 5 in Manikganj

INDIA
* Minimum wage norm only for state units: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

20140109
CAMBODIA
* Cambodian garment workers dying for a pay rise
* Unions Tell Garment Workers to Suspend Strike
* Rights Groups Condemn Killing of Protesters
* UN rights office alarmed by Cambodia crackdown
* Cambodia garment worker strike unravels
* South Korea pulled strings as Cambodia’s military cracked down on protesters
* South Korean garment industry urged Cambodia to act on striking workers
* Cambodian Authorities must Reveal Whereabouts of Detainees Immediately
* Police still mum on protesters
* Arrested Protesters’ Whereabouts Still Unknown
* Flash News: Confirmation of 23 detained arrestees held in CC3 Prison
* Garment manufacturers planning to sue unions
* ILO doubts bleak garment outlook
* Millions in damages sought
* Cambodia’s garment industry faces Bangladesh-like risks

MALAYSIA
* Manpower Department Outlines Rules On Employment Of Foreign Workers

20140107
CAMBODIA
* For families of 23 arrested: silence
* Minister ‘too busy’ to sit down with unions
* Prominent Union Leader rejects talks on minimum wage with government
* Flouting Law, Government Holds Protest Prisoners Incognito
* Police Block, Search Garment Workers’ Vans in Svay Rieng
* Global labour movement shows solidarity with Cambodia
* ICC complaint to lay shootings at PM’s feet:
* Wage fight ‘to wound’ key sector
* Garment Strike Cost Industry $200 Million, GMAC Says
* GMAC worries about departures of investors after labor unrest
* Apparel brands express ‘deep concern’ over Cambodia violence in open letter
* Stop Seeking Compensation for Damages from Cambodian Workers
* China hopes Cambodian parties express demands “legally” after bloody clash
* Military Police Deny Their Bullets Killed Five Protesters
* Government Finds Deniability in District Security Force

MALAYSIA
* How minimum wage affects you
* Right To Food, A Rising Challenge For Malaysia
* Malaysia living costs surge

20140106
CAMBODIA
* Five Killed During Protest Confirmed as Garment Workers
* After Clashes, Garment Workers Flee Veng Sreng Street
* Many garment factories resume work
* Rong Chhun summoned to appear at court for allegedly provoking social unrest
* Exodus follows violent clash
* Picking up the pieces
* Canadia park, a ghost town
* GMAC Defends Use of Force Against Striking Workers
* Violent response to strike for increased minimum wage
* Global Union Bodies Demand Justice for Cambodian Workers
* Mr Hun Sen: Stop the Brutal Suppression of Workers and Trade Unions in Cambodia

MALAYSIA
* DAP urges govt to review minimum wage for foreign workers
* Minimum wage for foreign workers: Give SMEs 5-year grace period, says Guan Eng
* LGE STATEMENT ON MIGRANT LABOUR MINIMUM WAGE SHORT SIGHTED !

HAITI
* Hanes is stealing from some of the world’s poorest workers

20140105
CAMBODIA
* Cambodian Authorities! End Brutal Repression Immediately!

BANGLADESH
* Garment pieceworkers not eligible for overtime pay
* Cost of living registers a significant hike
* RMG workers to get food and transport allowances even in absence

INDIA
* Spinning mill workers demand new wage agreement:

20140104
CAMBODIA
* Military police storm Freedom Park
* Cambodia clears protest park after deadly clashes
* Peaceful Protesters Expelled from Freedom Park as Military Mobilization Escalates
* Military Police Are Killing the Cambodians Who Make Your Clothes
* Cambodia strike faces deadly crackdown
* Police Kill 5 During Clash With Demonstrators
* Cambodia Must Investigate Protest Killings by Security Forces
* Court Charges Protesters as Supporters, Police Scuffle Outside
* Security Guards, Police Forcibly Clear Freedom Park
* Police disperse opposition rally after deadly clashes
* Phnom Penh Municipality calls on factory workers to return to work
* King requested to convene CPP, CNRP leaders for a summit to end crisis after deadly protest crackdown
* Bloody crackdown: UN condemns live fire, asks to bring violence instigators to justice
* EU calls for dispute parties to return to negotiation table after deadly crackdown
* US urges ‘restraint’ in Cambodia after violence
* Khmer Kill Khmer…

BANGLADESH
* Sweater workers not entitled to overtime
* Clash at CEPZ leaves 15 injured
* 10 Ctg RMG workers hurt in clash with cops
* Clash at CEPZ leaves 15 injured
* Workers Clash in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) over implementation of the Minimum Wage 2014 (EPZ)
* 38 injured in RMG workers-police clash

20140103
PHILIPPINES
* Why claims of stellar economic growth, industrial peace, taunt rather than cheer PH workers

THAILAND
* Industrial sector faces growing crisis

CAMBODIA
* Crackdown turns deadly
* Three Killed as Police Open Fire on Protesters
* At least three killed at factory clash
* Rights Worker Claims Five Dead in Clashes
* Civilians killed and injured by security forces amid civil unrest in Phnom Penh:
* Cambodia garment workers’ strike turns deadly
* Cambodian Police Fire on Protesters as Clashes Turn Violent:
* Paratroopers Deployed at Protest: 15 Detained, Injured
* Cambodian Troops Quash Protest at Garment Factory
* Military Special Command Unit Deployed to Crackdown on Striking Workers
* Strike violence erupts
* Cambodian police opens fire on striking garment workers
* Cambodian police open fire on protesters, several wounded
* Human Rights activists and workers ask to release arrested protesters
* Cambodia’s GMAC says factory closures continue due to ongoing strikes
* Cambodia’s garment workers stand firm as sector reels

20140102
CAMBODIA
* Unions to Bring Demonstrations to Factory Gates
* Workers block many roads in wage strike
* 15 people arrested in wage protest crackdown
* Workers quietly trickle back
* Cambodian garment workers return to work as factories reopen, but striking unions chase workers off work
* ILO urges dialogue to resolve current dispute in garment sector

BANGLADESH
* Apparel makers set to pay workers’ wages under new structure from this month
* Living costs soar

20140101
PHILIPPINES
* No wage increase seen soon

VIET NAM
* Key policies come into force since January, 2014

CAMBODIA
* Extra $5 ‘won’t woo workers’
* Amid Strikes, Minister Raises Minimum Wage to $100
* Workers out, deadlines loom

BANGLADESH
* RMG workers stage demo in Gazipur

20131231
CAMBODIA
* Take it or leave it offer
* Gov’t Unveils Legal Plan to Break Garment Industry Strike
* Some Factories Stay Open Despite GMAC’s Call for Shutdown
* Hundreds of anti-riot forces deployed as workers continue to block road
* Cambodian garment workers demand higher wages
* In Cambodia, pressure mounts on a longtime leader
* Cambodia garment workers: Double minimum wage!
* ILO expresses ‘significant concern’ over labor unrest
* ILO urges dialogue to resolve current dispute in garment sector
* Industry demands government ‘action’ to protect investment, jobs

BURMA/MYANMAR
* Talks begin on minimum wage

BANGLADESH
* Will new wages better their life?

INDIA
* Shutdown looms as wage hike hits industry hard

20131230
CAMBODIA
* CNRP calls a timeout
* Factories Closed Until Safety Guaranteed
* Garment industry blames six unions for mass factory shutdown
* Wage talks kick off without employers
* Wage talks fail again, protests resume
* Thousands protest after failed wage talks
* Cambodian Government warns to take strong action against widespread strike provokers

MALAYSIA
* DAP urges govt to review minimum wage for foreign workers

20131228-29
PHILIPPINES
* Unemployment still big, wages small in 2013 – KMU

CAMBODIA
* Workers Block Roads, Vow Further Strikes
* Violent clash as garment strike intensifies
* Workers continue block of NR 4
* Defense Minister Warns Protesters Against Blocking Streets

PAKISTAN
* ‘Minimum wages impede job creation’

20131227
PHILIPPINES
* Unemployment still big, wages small in 2013 – KMU

CAMBODIA
* Strike numbers swell
* Striking Garment Factory Workers Join CNRP Protest Again
* Factories Advised to Close as Wage Strikes Swell
* Unions announce January strikes until goals achieved
* Three injured, three arrested in clash
* Hun Sen Encounters ‘Choh Chenh Tov’ Chants on Drive to Airport
* Factories to lose millions
* Cambodian garment industry ends 2013 on sour note with record labor unrest

MALAYSIA
* MTUC Seeking RM300 Monthly COLA For 10 Million Workers

BANGLADESH
* Minimum Wage 2013 for Bangladeshi Export Processing Zones

20131226
CAMBODIA
* Strike picks up steam
* Protesting workers block NR 2 demanding pay increase
* GMAC calls for factories to shutter
* Striking Factory Workers Join CNRP Protests
* Protest paths converge
* Pro-opposition’s trade unions rally against low wage hike for 2014 in Cambodia

BANGLADESH
* Tk 5600 minimum wage for EPZ RMG workers to be fixed

INDIA
* Minimum wages set to rise by 52%

20131225
CAMBODIA
* Home for the holidays
* Monthly Wage Increased to $95, Unions Vow to Strike
* CNRP sees allies in strikers
* Factory workers rally alongside opposition at Freedom Park
* Rainsy mobilizing workers to protest in Bavet
* Protest against new wage of $95 is illegal: Labor Ministry

BURMA/MYANMAR
* Low wages cause labour disputes, says trade union

BANGLADESH
* EPZ RMG workers’ minimum wage Tk5,600

20131224
CAMBODIA
* Nationwide protest for raise in pay may occur: union leader
* Workers protest after wage talk results
* Keep striking for $160, Rainsy urges
* Turmoil marks year in labour

INDIA
CITU seeks better facilities for women
* Women labourers stage protest

20131223
CAMBODIA
* No End in Sight for Svay Rieng SEZ Strikes
* Unionist firings inspire walkout
* Sam Rainsy protests with workers in Bavet

latest tweets (& news)

Follow @DressedStripped for more

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand

What are their names
And on what streets do they live
I'd like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not an awful lot to ask
David Crosby

I wonder who they are
The people who are buying these clothes
I'd like to know what they've paid for it
How much the makers have paid for this
Fairer income is not an awful lot to ask
Better working conditions is not an awful lot to ask
A. Searcher

For more and other (labour) news you can follow on twitter: @asearcher2