PUMA to Investigate Worker Shooting

Source: RFA

2012-02-21

Police in Cambodia are searching for a man who fired on factory workers demanding higher wages.

Photo courtesy of Adhoc

A worker injured in the shooting is treated at the Svay Rieng Provincial Hospital, Feb. 20, 2012.

German sportswear giant PUMA said Tuesday that it will send staff members to investigate a shooting outside the premises of a factory of one of its footwear suppliers in Cambodia which left three female workers injured, one critically.

The shooting occurred Monday in southeastern Svay Rieng province, when a gunman opened fire on nearly 1,000 workers from three different factories protesting for better working conditions. The gunman escaped from the scene, despite a heavy police presence.

The three wounded women were employees of the Kaoway Sports Ltd. factory, located in the Manhattan Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Bavet city.

“PUMA has stepped up its resources in the country, with senior executives investigating the circumstances of the incident,” the sportswear firm said in a statement Tuesday, adding that a PUMA official would accompany a rights group to discuss the event with one of the injured workers.

The company also said it would host meetings with government and non-governmental organizations as well as trade unions on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss workers’ grievances in order to ensure their safety and well being.

A separate statement released by PUMA on Feb. 20 quoted a Kaoway Sport Ltd. as saying that the factory complied with Cambodian labor laws and regulations regarding wages.

The statement said the shooting occurred as protesting workers congregated in an area outside the Kaoway plant and adjacent to the Kingmaker and Sheico factories.

Kaoway said workers had thrown rocks at the factory and set fire to various parts of the building, in an act of vandalism and plunder. It made no mention of who was responsible for the shooting or why the gunman shot at protesters.

Local rights groups said protesters had been demanding that management of the zone’s three factories raise their monthly wages by U.S. $10 per month to U.S. $71.

Svay Rieng Provincial Governor Chieng Am said Tuesday that police were not involved in the shooting, although he was unclear of who was responsible.

“The police didn’t shoot. The bullets we found did not belong to the police. Police are equipped with AK-47s and the bullets are not from an AK-47.”

He added that police are searching for the suspect.

Monday shooting

A worker and witness to the shooting told RFA on Tuesday that the gunman was dressed in a bodyguard uniform as he got out of his car and opened fire.

“I don’t know whether he was a policeman, but he was dressed like a bodyguard,” she said.

The three female employees, aged 18 to 23, were all treated at a nearby hospital for upper body wounds. One victim remains in critical condition with a severe chest wound.

Cambodian rights groups LICADHO and Community Legal Education Center said witnesses saw military police at the scene fire their automatic weapons into the air immediately following the shooting, but the gunman was able to escape despite the large presence of security.

LICADHO Senior investigator Am Sam Ath called the shooting “an attempt of premeditated murder.”

“Reports indicate that the gunman shot directly at the protesting workers. There can be no question that such actions constitute premeditation and intent to kill, according to the penal code.”

Protest shootings

Following the shooting incident, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng ordered Cambodia’s National Police Commissioner to prevent police officers from using weapons in response to protests and demonstrations.

He added that the use of shields and electric batons by police during land protests and worker demonstrations was acceptable.

Sar Kheng, who spoke to provincial and municipal police chiefs during a workshop Tuesday, said police must conduction investigations into all shooting incidents in a neutral manner, without showing bias towards involved companies.

“We must make the interests of the people our first priority, but we must also protect investment. We have no right to shoot at people—please understand this, provincial governors.”

According to rights groups, there have been at least five incidents of armed guards, including police and military police officers, firing at villagers in land disputes in five separate provinces over the last few months.

Rights groups on Tuesday released a joint statement urging Cambodian authorities to conduct an investigation into the latest shooting.

“We also urge the buyers of goods produced by these factories, PUMA in particular, to cease relying on the biased information supplied by the factories themselves and to send a team of investigators to conduct their own reviews of the incidents,” the statement read.

“All buyers involved in Cambodia must make it clear to both the factories and the government that such violence is unacceptable and will have serious consequences.”

Reported for RFA’s Khmer service by Neang Ieng, To Serey and Samean Yun. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Man opens fire at protesters at Cambodian industrial zone

Source: Channel News Asia
20 February 2012

PHNOM PENH: Several Cambodian textile workers were shot and wounded on Monday when a man opened fire at a thousands-strong protest at an industrial zone in the east of the kingdom, officials said.

The shooting, which some local media said was carried out by a security guard, came as workers forced their way into garment factories, hurled rocks and tried to light fires, according to the authorities.

"Police only fired warning shots in the air," said national police spokesman Kirt Chantharith, adding that authorities were investigating the incident.

About 6,000 workers from four factories gathered to demand better work conditions, including lunch money, at the economic zone in Bavet in eastern Svay Rieng province, officials said.

"Three workers were injured, one seriously," Bavet police chief Keo Kong said by telephone.

"A civilian man wearing a white shirt opened fire and fled."

Protesters gave a similar account.

"A man carrying a gun got out of a car and opened fire at the workers," a female worker, Ouk Sam Oeun, told AFP by telephone.

The textile industry is a key source of foreign income for Cambodia and employs more than 400,000 people, mostly women.

Observers say many employees work long hours and skip meals in order to support their families in the impoverished nation.

Tension between staff and bosses erupted in 2010 when tens of thousands of workers went on strike until the government stepped in and arranged talks with manufacturers.

- AFP/wk

Bloody day in Svay Rieng

The Phnom Penh Post
May Titthara and David Boyle with additional reporting by Derek Stout
Tuesday, 21 February 2012

A young woman is fighting for her life after she was shot in the chest during a protest of about 6,000 workers yesterday at a factory that supplies sportswear giant PUMA by an assailant that witnesses have said was dressed in police uniform. 

The victim, Buot Chinda, was one of three people shot in front of police during the rowdy protest at the Kaoway Sports Ltd factory, in Svay Rieng province, in an incident PUMA has said it is taking “very seriously”.

She remains in a critical condition from the bullet wound that narrowly missed her heart and punctured her lung and has been rushed to Phnom Penh’s Calmette Hospital.

The shootings began when two truckloads of police confronted protesters after they began hurling rocks through the factory’s windows, ignited tyres and invaded the premises, demanding increased benefits.

From her hospital bed, Bout Chinda said yesterday she could not identify the person who shot her as she walked through the crowd, because she was in severe pain and shock.

“When I was walking to the toilet, I was shot. When the bullet entered my body, I didn’t think I would survive,” she said.

Her sister, Som Sina, who also works at the factory, said a man wearing a short-sleeved police uniform stepped out of a car and began firing randomly into the crowd, hitting her sister and two others.

“It didn’t make a sound because he used a silencer. Some of the workers recognised him as a Bavet town police officer,” she said.

A Kaoway Sports Ltd employee, who works for the management but wished to remain anonymous, also identified the perpetrator as a man dressed in a police uniform, adding that he was flanked by a police officer and a bodyguard.

“After he shot the workers, some of the protesters tried to follow and capture him, but he got into a black Camry that was waiting for him and drove away,” the employee said.

This account, which was confirmed by several other protesters who witnessed the scene, was disputed by Bavet police chief Keo Kong, who denied a police officer was responsible, adding that six officers had also been injured.

“We just know that one man wearing a white shirt fired on the workers. Police and workers tried to arrest him, but failed because he ran into the forest,” he said.

Keo Kong said the 6,000 protesters at the Taiwanese-owned Kaoway Sports factory, in Bavet town’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone, included employees from other factories in the zone including Kingmaker, Sheico Group and Ankor Supreme.

He identified the other workers who had been shot as Keo Neth, 18,  Nuth Sakhorn, 23, both of whom were in a stable condition.

National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said a special team had been sent to investigate and arrest the gunman.

“The gunman is not in our police forces, and we did not hurt anyone,” he said.

Kaoway Sports Ltd could not be reached  by the Post for comment yesterday.

But PUMA was quick to respond to the incident, releasing a press statement before telling the Post it already had people on the ground investigating the situation.

“PUMA takes this incident very seriously and will take all measures to ensure that the safety of its supplier factory workers is paramount,” the statement read.

“According to the information PUMA has been able to obtain, factory management has evacuated all personnel from the compound to ensure the employees’ safety and workers have been sent home.”

The shooting, the latest in a series of incidents over the past two months in which protesters have been fired upon,  has drawn outrage from civil-society groups and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.

SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua, who visited Buot Chinda in hospital yesterday, said it was extraordinary such action had been taken against workers seeking about $US25 in monthly benefits on top of the $61 minimum wage they receive.

“Does PUMA want its name to be tainted by the blood of workers in Cambodia? These are young women who want nothing more than $10 for transportation and an extra 50 cents for their food,” she said.

Jill Tucker, chief technical adviser at the International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories Cambodia, said that although details of the incident remained sketchy, it was worrying for the country’s international reputation as a supplier of footwear and clothing.

“It doesn’t look good for Cambodia when this type of violence is concerned,” she said.

Ek Tha, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said no one should draw conclusions about what had happened until a full investigation was completed.

Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, of which Kaoway Sports Ltd is a member, downplayed the severity of the situation.

“We all know that one worker was injured and it was originally rumoured that worker was killed, but that’s not the case,” he said.

He suggested protesters were just looking for “an excuse to make trouble” rather than seeking genuine benefits due to external, non-union agitation and claimed the factory had accepted the workers’ requests before they amended their demands and began vandalising the factory.

The protest reportedly erupted into violence when Kaoway Sports Ltd agreed to only two or three demands made by workers, including monthly allowances of $10 for transport, $10 as an attendance bonus and US 50 cents a day for lunch.

Svay Rieng provincial governor Chieng Am said that after the shootings, the company had agreed to all the workers’ demands and vowed to give 500,000 riel compensation to each victim.

Meanwhile, Buot Chinda’s doctor, Svay Rieng provincial hospital deputy Kouch Sipha, is just hoping his patient will stay alive.

“We are trying our best to save her life,” he said before Buot Chinda was sent to Phnom Penh because her condition had deteriorated.

Asean waters down human rights draft: leaked document

Source: Mizzima News  
 Friday, 17 February 2012 

(Mizzima) – A leaked draft of the Asean Human Rights Declaration obtained by Mizzima has lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding the centerpiece of the human rights agenda of the Association of Southeast Asian States (Asean). 

A working draft, written in January at the time of the first meeting of Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights on the Asean Human Rights Declaration held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, includes detailed comments by officials from Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.

The draft revealed a number of the Asean-member states – most notably Laos – are seeking to water down the declaration by proposing wording that would limit its scope and application, while officials from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, providing comment as a block of nations, proposed more progressive wording.

Laos has arguably taken the most hardl-line stance, placing conditions on a number of sections in the draft declaration.

Commenting on the duties and responsibilities of the Asean member States, Laos said the “realization of universal human rights” must be in the context of “regional and national particularities” such as political, economic, social, cultural, historical and religious backgrounds.

Laos’ position is contrary to the more expansive wording drafted by the Asean Secretariat that “…it is the duty of member states, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Laos is also proposing the inclusion of a “national security” and “public morality” trigger to override claims to universal human rights and freedoms, perhaps fearful of an erosion of national security and moral principles.

“The exclusive insistence on rights can result in conflict, division, and endless dispute and can lead to lawlessness and chaos,” Laos said.

While the secretariat’s original wording acknowledges rights shall be exercised with “due regard” to national security and contains no mention of “public morality,” Laos’ rewording would extend the reach of limitations, potentially enabling a member state to claim exemption from the Declaration where national security, public morality and other issues enacted in national laws permit.

“The exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose... to meet the just requirements of national security, public order, public health and public morality and the general welfare of the peoples in a democratic society,” Laos said.

Some member states appear to have accepted the inclusion of “public morality” as a limitation.

In other comments, Laos proposed limiting “the right to practice one’s religion or belief” with the condition that “advocacy or dissemination of religions or beliefs shall be in compliance with national law of each Asean Member State.”

Both Laos and Vietnam held reservations about the right to freedom of opinion and expression and to freely receive information. Laos added the qualification, “Freedom of expression carries with it special duty not to defame the reputation of others and incite hatred, discrimination, war, social division and violence.”

Laos is the most vigorous advocate for cementing state rights above claims to universal human rights and freedoms, with Malaysia and Vietnam making supporting comments.

“Each Asean member state has the right to pursue its own economic and social development and freely choose it s own political system which suits the historical culture and social realities and national values of each nation, based on the aspirations of its people without external interference or pressure in whatsoever forms,” Laos said.

And in a clear statement designed to shield trade and investment from the scope of the Declaration, Laos said, “Human rights should not be used as conditionality for extending official development assistance to, engage in trade with, and making investment in Asean-member states.”

Burma did not directly comment on the draft but did support the position of Laos “not to mention international binding instruments in this political declaration” and agreed with Laos which had  “reservations in regards to the use of the term[s] ‘minority groups’ and ‘indigenous peoples’.”

The definition of who holds rights and freedoms under the Declaration appears to be contentious, with a number of member states providing views.

The draft stated, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, sexual identity, property, birth, disability or other status.”

However, socially conservative Brunei and Malaysia are opposed to the inclusion of “sexual identity” and Malaysia raised concerns about the definitions of “sex” and “other status” seeking to ensure they are “determined by Asean common values in the spirit of unity in diversity,” and not based on other internationally accepted definitions.

Thailand proposed changing “sexual identity” to the more progressive term “sexual orientation” to reflect the language of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Thailand also proposed that the phrase “gender identity” be included.

Of the other member states’ comments, Singapore took a relatively cautious approach, stating it has reservations about a number of issues notably that, “Primary education shall be compulsory and free,” and “A person’s nationality cannot be revoked or otherwise deprived if it will result in the person being stateless.”

Vietnam questioned the use of the word “freely” in a citizen’s right to participate freely in government and proposed removing “torture, enforced disappearance or other serious human rights violations” from the list of persecutions preventing a State from extraditing an asylum seeker.

The current draft also defines when the death penalty can be used. However, some member states oppose its inclusion.

The raft of changes proposed in the leaked draft will be a cause for concern among many civil society groups.

Worried by the possibility the declaration may fall below international standards under the guise of the “Asean way,” civil society’s position paper on the declaration submitted in June 2011 by the Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights (SAPA TF-AHR), a coalition of more than 70 nongovernmental organizations in Southeast, said:

“Under no circumstances may the standards for human rights in the AHRD fall below those provided by universal human rights instruments. Instead, ASEAN as a regional association should aspire to commit itself to higher standards of human rights and contribute to the advancement of the promotion and protection of human rights globally.”

Last month, Amnesty International criticized the Asean panel charged with drafting a human rights code saying it is working largely in secrecy and not consulting with human rights’ NGOs.

Asean officials say the Asean grouping hopes to finalize the draft of the rights charter in 2012. The final draft must be passed by consensus.

Garment leaders call for political calm

 Source: The Daily Star
Friday, February 3, 2012

Garment and textile entrepreneurs yesterday urged political leaders to shun activities that may put the economy in trouble.

A vested quarter is trying to push the country's main foreign currency earning sector -- the readymade garment (RMG) sector -- and its backward linkage industry -- the textile sector -- into a crisis, the businessmen alleged.

But they did not name any specific group or people “trying to create anarchy”.
They spoke at a joint press conference on "the current situation of garment and textile sectors" at Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in Dhaka.

Leaders from two other associated bodies -- Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) -- also attended the programme.
“Those who want to destabilise the democracy are considered as conspirators in the country,” said Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of BGMEA.

Mohiuddin also said economy and politics are inter-related. If the politics passes through a troubled time, the economy will suffer, he added.

“So, we hope the political leaders will not launch any such activity in the country that will harm the economy.”

The business leader also said the two sectors are passing through an uncertain period for slowdown in the global economy. Some recent government policies have also affected the sectors.

The government's excessive borrowing from the banking system has created the liquidity crisis, which is also affecting the RMG sector seriously, Mohiuddin said.

The garment sector is losing its global competitiveness due to the spiralling production cost imposed by high bank interest rates, he said.

“We urge the government to keep the lending rates at a tolerable level considering the long-term global competitiveness of the sector.”

The BGMEA chief also demanded reinstatement of the premium insurance rates for garment exporters that the country's insurers recently scrapped and introduced a standard rate as per the recommendations of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authorities.

“Introduction of such standard rate without consulting with exporters is not right.”

Similarly, the authorities of Chittagong port did not reduce the charges on garment export, although Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured to do so in her Batexpo speech in 2009, he said.

Mohiuddin urged the government to construct central effluent treatment plants (CETPs) in different industrial zones as entrepreneurs cannot set up such costly facilities individually.

Officials of the Department of Environment fine garment owners irrationally for not having ETPs at the factories or for partial operations of water and chemical treatment at their premises, he said.

Jahangir Alamin, president of BTMA, said poor supply of gas is hampering production in factories seriously.
“I need 10 PSI (per square inch), but I receive only 3 PSI during the peak of production. But owners have to pay the government at the rate of 10 PSI," he said.

He urged the government to introduce electronic gas metres at the factories for measuring gas pressures correctly.

Living wage a ‘human right’

Source: The Phnom Penh Post
Mary Kozlovski
Thursday, 09 February 2012

Panellists at the first “Permanent People’s Tribunal” on wages and conditions for Cambodian garment workers yesterday released their findings, declaring that a living wage for workers should be considered a “human right”.

The hearing included two days of testimony by workers, labour experts and brand-name buyers.

While panellists did not specify what a living wage was, they called on the government to develop “standards and methods” for calculating one and found that the “minimum living wage should clearly identify food costs to be no more than 50 per cent of the overall wage package”.

A representative from the Asia Floor Wage Campaign, which organised the hearing, took it a step further, telling the Post that the monthly minimum wage for garment workers in Cambodia should be US$281.

That figure represents more than four times the current monthly minimum wage for garment workers of $66, which includes a $5 health bonus added last month.

AFW coordinator Anannya Bhattacharjee said the $281 calculation was based on a worker’s monthly nutritional needs according to figures obtained from governments and international institutions.

She added that such an increase would rely to some extent on clothing brands and retailers paying more for the finished product.

“There is enough money in the global supply chain for brands to pay Cambodian manufacturers enough so that garment workers can earn that,” she said.

Panel member Gianni Tognoni yesterday said that a wage is one way for workers to enjoy their basic human rights. “Wage is not simply part of a contract,” he said.

Tognini said that while there were legal principles in place to govern the sector, there was “vast evidence of impunity”.

“Everything is well known, everything is well legislated and nothing happens,” he said, citing an “absence of investigation” of mass fainting episodes in factories.

Another panel member, former professor Gill H Boehringer, said that buyers were “violating the norms of your country and international norms which are universally recognised”.

The panel concluded with recommendations for the government, trade unions and consumers.

“Consumers should support the global efforts of trade unions and other labour organisations and NGOs … to pressure Multinational Corporations and (‘Brands’) to adopt…the living wage in their supply chain,” the findings read.

It called multinational corporations to move “beyond good intentions” and commit to “a mandatory living wage at all levels and sectors of the supply chain”, and recommended that unions adopt the “living wage concept” as part of their bargaining strategy.

Dave Welsh, country director for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, said that while the AFW’s $281 figure would be a “great wage”, it was “probably not realistic overnight”, adding that there was “definitely room for brands to negotiate”.

“It shouldn’t be on [the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia] necessarily,” he said. “It’s also really in the brands’ corner, where they’re benefiting hugely from being in Cambodia, not only financially, but also from a PR vantage point.”

While GMAC did not attend the tribunal, the group’s secretary-general, Ken Loo, told the Post last week that there were “numerous calculations” for determining a living wage.

CAMBODIA: Tribunal urges "immediate steps" on garment pay

Source: Just-style
Author: Leonie Barrie | 8 February 2012


A two-day hearing in which over 200 Cambodian garment workers gathered to give evidence on pay and conditions at factories has recommended that international brands and retailers take "immediate steps" to address the issue of poverty wages for factory workers.

The verdict follows a two-day 'People's Tribunal on for Minimum Living Wages and Decent Working Conditions for Garment Workers as a Fundamental Right' which took place in Phnom Penh earlier this week.

Testimonies were heard on mass fainting, slum living conditions, malnutrition, debt, repeated short term contracts and dismissals of 1000 union leaders after a sector-wide strike. Expert witnesses also revealed that massive inflation means Cambodian garment workers have seen a real wage loss of over 14% during the last 12 years.

Multinational brands Adidas and Puma also presented evidence on their role as buyers. Both are taking part in a multi-brand initiative to try to identify what a 'fair wage' in the garment industry could be, and they are considering a 'living wage' as one possible option.

But H&M and Gap, the largest buyers in the country, declined to take part, organisers said.

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance, which helped stage the tribunal, expressed concern that too much discussion of wages and not enough real action was being undertaken by brands.

"The tribunal reveals a chasm between the CSR speak of international garment companies and the real situation faced by Asian garment workers," said Anannya Bhattacharjee, coordinator of the International Asia Floor Wage Alliance.

"The wage issue is a cross border problem and needs to be addressed as such. International players must work together and use the Asia Floor Wage figure to combat poverty pay in the garment sector."

The tribunal took place a week after the International Labor Organization's Better Factories Cambodia initiative released its "27th Synthesis Report on Working Conditions in Cambodia's Garment Sector," which assesses compliance with Cambodian and international labour standards in garment factories.

The reports notes that while the Cambodian garment industry "has demonstrated consistent compliance on indicators such as payment of the proper minimum wage and overtime wages and provision of annual leave, improvements can be made in other areas that contribute to the health and welfare of workers."

Cambodia garments "tribunal" turns up heat on big brands

Reuters
By Prak Chan Thul
8 February 2012
 
Feb 8 (Reuters) - A panel of international and local judges on Wednesday called on garment factories in Cambodia to urgently increase employees' salaries and pressed big international clothing brands to do more to improve working conditions.

The call was issued by a "People's Tribunal" of judges representing the Asian Floor Wage Alliance, a labour advocacy group active across the region, who concluded working conditions were violations of human rights and the $61 minimum monthly salary was insufficient.

The trial-like event in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh was the first of its kind in a country plagued by strikes and protests by garment workers. Those who took part in the tribunal included trade unionists, garment workers and representatives of several brands outsourcing work to Cambodia, including Adidas and Puma.

"The situation of workers in the Cambodian garment supply chain presents severe deficits which correspond to a systematic violation of their fundamental right to a decent human life," the judges said in delivering a verdict.

"Because of its comprehensiveness and urgency, the implementation of the living wage concept cannot be postponed."

Garment exports were the biggest currency earner last year for Cambodia, one of the world's poorest countries. The sector employs more than 300,000 and feed thousands of families in a country where a third of the population live on $1 a day.

However, the industry, which generated $4.2 billion in exports last year, has been plagued by pay disputes, mass faintings and illness among workers, believed to be brought on by sweat-shop working conditions.
The decision by the judges was not legally-binding, but could carry weight in Cambodia, given the scale of an industry that supplies dozens of high-street brands, including H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Gap.

During the trial, unions presented cases of staff who had fallen sick at factories making clothes for major brands.

"To stretch their low wage, workers buy cheap food which is not very nutritious. They work from 12-14 hours per day and sometimes overnight," unionist Suon Sokunthea said in testimony.

Garment worker Heap Kimhuor, 27, said she struggled to make ends meet on her salary. Staff mostly travelled to work standing up in overcrowded trucks for long periods and strong odours from the machines and chemicals made working conditions unbearable.

"As my income is unable to cover all basic needs, I often take a loan from the landlord," added Heap Kimhuor.

Adidas said it was committed to seeking a better deal for Cambodian workers, but was disappointed that neither the government nor manufacturers took part in the tribunal.

"Indeed at its heart, the progressive realisation of living wages in Cambodia remains a state duty under the international human rights law," it said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Garment industry at crossroads

The Phnom Penh Post
Vincent MacIsaac
Tuesday, 07 February 2012

When Cambodian Labour Confederation president Ath Thorn described Better Factories Cambodia as “powerless” during a forum last week, its new program manager was swift to correct him.

“Sometimes BFC’s reports have too much power,” Jill Tucker told about 100 unionists and workers’ rights advocates who had gathered at the Sunway Hotel for a day-long assessment of the program, which links access to export markets with compliance to labour standards.

She also noted that BFC’s monitors were not as easy to fool as Ath Thorn had implied when he said factory managers “hid under-age workers in back rooms” if they heard that monitors were on the way.

“It is true that BFC has no enforcement power,” Tucker said. “But we are not powerless, and we do detect child labour.”

Pointing to its latest twice-yearly report, released two days before the forum, she noted that when monitors found under-age workers at five of the 300 garment factories BFC monitors, one buyer “immediately shifted out of a factory”.

“It’s not the fault of the factory,” Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, insisted.

Factories were being punished for failing to comply with a law that was difficult to perfectly enforce in this country, he said.

Loo suggested BFC’s monitoring could be, in effect, used to blame companies for a widespread social problem they, and BFC itself, could not entirely stamp out.

“If [buyers] see child labour, they withdraw,” he said.

Tucker agreed that it would have better for the buyer to work towards a solution. “Rather than see them cut and run, we’re trying to work with the buyers to prevent this problem,” she said.

The latest BFC report also notes the ease with which identification documents can be falsified in Cambodia, allowing under-age workers to slip through, but it also details the process for dealing with child labour.

Loo referred to this as a “footnote”, which was misleading.

The report  clearly notes the corruption that allows IDs to be fabricated, and describes the process in place for dealing with child labour.

The child is removed from the factory and given vocational training, paid for by the factory. 

The factory is also obligated to offer the child a job when he or she is legally entitled to take one.

Lack of balance?

Loo also pointed to imbalances in global media coverage as a deterrent to sourcing garments in Cambodia.

“Some buyers are reluctant to come to Cambodia due to the high level of media coverage here,” he said.

“A small event at a factory in Cambodia can be blown out of proportion and appear in the Washington Post”, while a riot at an industrial estate in Bangladesh went virtually unreported, he said.

But despite the increase in media coverage of Cambodian garment factories since a spate of mass fainting incidents last year roused reporters’ interest and threatened to revive the “sweatshop” label, the industry is growing fast.

New factories are opening and orders are surging as Cambodia benefits from shift in manufacturing from China.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the value of garment exports rose to US$3.47 billion during the first 10 months of last year, up 34 per cent over the same period in 2010.

The number of factories with exporting licences had risen nine per cent to 300 during Better Factories’ last reporting period (May 1 to October 31, 2011), it said.

These factories employed more than 345,000 workers, about 90 per cent of them women, BFC said.

An estimated 200,000 more workers are employed in garment factories that supply exporting factories but do not have export licences.

Industry expansion, new labour legislation that will make it easier to unionise, and a tightening labour market was shifting “leverage” in bargaining towards workers, Dave Welsh, country director of the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity, said.

He also saw a “strategic opportunity” for unions and GMAC to work together to push buyers for higher prices, noting that brands “love buying in Cambodia” because of the monitoring by BFC.

Loo said the industry could see “double-digit growth for the next three to five years”.

Relatively low wages were one of the benefits Cambodia offered, he said.

Higher electricity costs, poor infrastructure and lower productivity – the last of which Loo identified as the fault of management, not workers – remained disadvantages for manufacturers here, he said.

A living wage

This week’s People’s Tribunal on the Asia Minimum Floor Wage, Cambodia identified global brands and retailers as being responsible for the low wages paid to garment workers in Asia.

The event was organised by the advocacy group Asian Floor Wage Campaign, which describes itself as laying “a floor under the race to the bottom, and [seeking] to end wage competition in Asia and the extreme exploitation of women workers”.

It notes that the global garment industry has consolidated but workers remain fragmented.

As a result, regional co-operation between unions is key to preventing buyers using the threat of shifting orders from countries where wages are rising, it says.

AFW delegate Anannya Bhattacharjee said Cambodia’s minimum wage (excluding the $5 health bonus added last month) was just 22 per cent of the campaign’s minimum.

Bhattacharjee said the price paid to manufacturers must include a labour cost, and that this must be a living wage.

Global brands and retailers had access to two worlds, she noted. In one they sell to consumers who can afford high prices; in another they source garments “where wages are low”.

She also pointed out that prices paid to manufacturers were decreasing, and that if they increased the prices paid to their suppliers, workers could benefit.

“The responsibility [for paying a living wage] is with the brands and retailers because they have access to high-end consumers,” she said.

Bhattacharjee and other labour advocates, however, spoke little about differences in electricity costs, infrastructure and productivity levels throughout the region, or how these affected wages.

Jeroen Merk, a representative of the Clean Clothes Campaign, said one of the tribunal’s aims was to point out “the contradiction between what the buyers say to consumers and the reality of life on the factory floor”.

“What they have been doing so far is not enough,” the Dutch activist said.

Their “race to the bottom” had been pushing prices down for 20 years, Merk said.

He also noted a “common interest between the manufacturers and the workers”. Both were being squeezed by buyers, he said.

Buying hypocracy

Loo was more blunt in his assessment of buyers’ commitment to complying with labour laws and international standards.

“The buyers are hypocrites,” he said.

“They say they want compliance but during the financial crisis [2008, 2009] orders fell 20 to 25 per cent in Cambodia. In Bangladesh [where compliance levels are far lower] export figures remained pretty constant.”

The minimum wage in Bangladesh is about US$45 a month, compared to $66 here (including the health bonus).

Many Bangladeshi factories did not even pay the minimum wage, labour advocates said.

Still, its garment exports dwarf those from Cambodia.

“You tell me why they are sourcing more in Bangladesh. That’s what we are asking,” Loo said.

“Compliance costs money. If it is so important, then everyone needs to share the cost.”

Loo and the labour advocates both singled out H&M.

Loo said it alone was willing to pay for compliance. “H&M is the only buyer that is willing to pay more for compliance.

During the crisis, they were the only buyer to increase orders from Cambodia,” he said.

The Swedish brand, however, was criticised by the Clean Clothes Coalition for failing to participate in the tribunal.

GMAC also skipped the event, which concludes tomorrow with recommendations from a panel of judges.

“A tribunal implies that someone committed a crime,” Loo explained last week.

“If they don’t change the name, we won’t attend.”

Better Factories Cambodia, meanwhile, is expanding to cover footwear makers as well as the supply factories that supply apparel exporters.

“In footwear, we hope to do what BFC did in garments 10 years ago,” Tucker said.

It was in the process of hiring three new monitors and at the same time seeking to become less reliant on monitoring, she said.

“We’re trying to get more information from factories without having to go there.”

The methods for doing this will be disclosed in the coming months, Tucker said, hinting that they might include text messaging from garment workers.

“We’re exploring options to both keep BFC credible and protect the industry,” she told the Post.

“The garment industry is vital to this country. BFC needs to be ahead of the curve in finding ways to protect workers.”

A variant of the BFC, Better Work, is being introduced in countries, including Vietnam, Jordan and Indonesia.

In these countries, it is a voluntary program.

Here, all factories that export must register with BFC, whose monitors use checklists of about 500 items to gauge compliance with labour laws and standards.

One item missing is transportation to and from factories.

One labour leader noted during last week’s forum on Better Factories that workers “are loaded in trucks like animals”.

“They are treated like pigs,” he said.

“Why isn’t BFC monitoring this? This is a cause for alarm. There have already been accidents.”

Garment industry in dock over Cambodia's poverty wages

Fibre2Fashion
February 04, 2012 (Cambodia)
 
Garment workers' unions and human rights groups will hold a People's Tribunal to investigate the state of poverty pay in the Cambodian garment industry.

Following recent mass faintings induced by malnutrition, and strikes pulling more than 200,000 workers to the streets to protest poor conditions and inadequate pay, the tribunal will call evidence from a wide variety of stakeholders from the Cambodian garment industry.

Workers, manufacturers, and multinational brands Adidas and Puma, among others, will give evidence about the state of the industry in front of a panel of expert judges. H&M and Gap were also invited but have refused to attend.

“Despite experiencing sustained growth in the sector Cambodia’s minimum wage allowance is 66 USD a month and is currently the lowest of all its neighbouring states. This wage amounts to around half that required to adequately meet the average worker’s basic needs.” said Tola Moeun head of Labour Programs for the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC).

Ath Thorn, president of Cambodian Labour Confederation said that, “Both Better Factories Cambodia and government representatives have attributed the phenomenon of mass fainting directly to inadequate salaries, and the effect these have had on workers' nutrition and their ability to rest. Something must be done about this.”

The tribunal, taking place from 5-8th February, is officially called the 'People’s Tribunal on for Minimum Living Wages and Decent Working Conditions for Garment Workers as a Fundamental Right'. It has been organised by the International Asia Floor Wage Alliance and the Asia Floor Wage Cambodia, both coalitions of garment workers' trade unions and workers' rights groups. It seeks to make public the relevant concerns of those employed in the garment sector in Cambodia.

International workers' rights group the Clean Clothes Campaign will also participate in the tribunal and will urge governments and global buyers sourcing from Cambodia to take the findings of the People Tribunal very seriously. “With this tribunal we hope to see some real commitment from big brands buying from Cambodia to start addressing the real needs of their workers - a living wage should be at the root of company policies,” said Jeroen Merk, Clean Clothes Campaign International Secretariat.

Clean Clothes Campaign

CAMBODIA: Tribunal to probe garment pay and conditions

Source: Just-style

Author: Leonie Barrie 

3 February 2012

Groups representing Cambodian garment workers are holding a "people's tribunal" next week to investigate pay and conditions at factories making clothes for brands including Adidas, Puma, H&M and Gap.

The two-day hearing in Phnom Penh follows a spate of mass faintings in the sector, as well as a series of strikes. It hopes to draw attention to the concerns of those employed in the garment sector - as well as a fair wage commitment from firms sourcing from Cambodia.

Unions and human rights groups will call evidence from a wide variety of stakeholders from the Cambodian garment industry, including workers, manufacturers, and multinational brands.
"Despite experiencing sustained growth in the sector Cambodia's minimum wage allowance is US$66 a month and is currently the lowest of all its neighbouring states," says Tola Moeun head of Labour Programs for the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC).

"This wage amounts to around half that required to adequately meet the average worker's basic needs."
The minimum wage for Cambodia's garment workers rose by $5 to $66 a month in January in a bid to help workers to meet basic needs like health care as well as reduce the likelihood of strikes.

But Ath Thorn, president of Cambodian Labour Confederation, notes: "Both Better Factories Cambodia and government representatives have attributed the phenomenon of mass fainting directly to inadequate salaries, and the effect these have had on workers' nutrition and their ability to rest. Something must be done about this."

The 'People's Tribunal on for Minimum Living Wages and Decent Working Conditions for Garment Workers as a Fundamental Right' takes place on 5-6 February, and representatives from international brands and retailers have been invited to attend.

It has been organised by the International Asia Floor Wage Alliance and the Asia Floor Wage Cambodia, both coalitions of garment workers' trade unions and workers' rights groups.

International workers' rights group the Clean Clothes Campaign will also participate in the tribunal and will urge governments and global buyers sourcing from Cambodia to take the findings of the People Tribunal very seriously.

"With this tribunal we hope to see some real commitment from big brands buying from Cambodia to start addressing the real needs of their workers - a living wage should be at the root of company policies," says Jeroen Merk, Clean Clothes Campaign international secretariat.

The International Labour Organisation's Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) programme in September launched an investigation into instances of group faintings in Cambodian garment factories. Out of about 300 exporting garment factories in Cambodia, there were more than 10 reported incidents of fainting in 2011.
The garment sector accounts for 90% of Cambodia's exports and employs around 400,000 workers. Exports reached $1.858bn in the first half 2011, up 32% over the same period last year.

Cambodia’s garment sector continues to grow: BFC

Source:Fibre2Fashion
February 01, 2012 (Cambodia)
 
The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) has released its “27th Synthesis Report on Working Conditions in Cambodia’s Garment Sector”, which assesses compliance with Cambodian Labour Law and international
labour standards in garment exporting factories.

The 27th Synthesis Report reflects compliance data from monitoring reports completed between May 1 and October 31, 2011. During this six-month period, BFC produced monitoring reports for 169 of the 300 factories registered with the programme.

The 27th Synthesis Report contains a range of information drawn from these reports, including information on factory size across the industry, as well as comparative data on compliance with fundamental rights and selected working conditions to facilitate tracking of compliance levels over time.

This report shows employment in garment export factories reaching its highest level since that seen in the 21st synthesis report dated 31st October 2008, with 345,364 workers employed in the 300 active factories registered with the project.

Compared with the previous report, there has been a 9 percent growth in the number of factories, and a 7 percent increase in the size of the workforce. 90.7 percent of the workers currently employed are women.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, garment exports from Cambodia rose to US$ 3.47 billion during the first 10 months of 2011, an increase of 34 percent compared with the same period during 2010.

During the period covered by the report, at least 11 garment factories experienced fainting incidents and over 1500 workers fainted or collapsed during working hours.

Various studies have indicated a number of possible causes, such as poor nutrition, poor hygiene, the lack of a morning meal, heat stress, poor ventilation, excessive working hours, poor industrial relations and mass psychogenic behavior in which one worker falls unconscious and others who witness this collapse as well.

The 27th synthesis report demonstrates that compliance levels are lower than 50 percent on several requirements that are relevant to the fainting incidents, such as exceptional overtime (5%), overtime limited to two hours per day (16%), sufficient soap and water available near the toilets (48%), and acceptable heat levels (38%).

According to figures from the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), during the reporting period garment factories experienced 14 strikes involving 16,498 workers, which resulted in 81,584 lost work days.

Among the key findings in the report are the following:
• Three quarters of the workforce is employed in factories with 1000 or more employees, even though most factories monitored employ less than 1000 workers.

• 66 percent of the factories monitored have at least one union, down 10 percent from the previous report.

• The percentage of factories that engaged in discrimination is at 18 percent, up from 13 percent in the last report; the percentage that engaged in anti-union discrimination is at 4 percent, up from 3 percent; and the percentage that interfered with workers’ right to freedom of association is at 5 percent, up from 2 percent.

Garment report tightens focus

The Phnom Penh Post
Vincent MacIsaac
31 January 2012
Better Factories Cambodia’s latest report on garment exporters’ compliance with Cambodia’s Labour Law and international standards aims to be more relevant than the last one and to “drive change”, BFC program manager Jill Tucker said yesterday.

“We were roundly criticised for the last report,” Tucker said.

Unions said it skipped key issues, while factory owners called it “meaningless” for veering off into unreasonable recommendations “like adjustable backrests to chairs”, she said.

“We wanted to stay relevant, so we asked ‘how do we make this report relevant and drive change?’” Tucker added.

It does so, union representatives said, by focusing on compliance with laws and standards related to workers’ health and welfare, particularly factors researchers linked to the spate of mass fainting incidents that hit the industry during the reporting period.

The incidents raised questions about working conditions at Cambodian garment factories as well as Better Factories’ ability to monitor them.

The report found high rates of noncompliance related to overtime, and noted that fewer factories were keeping a single payroll ledger. “Failure to comply with this [payroll ledger] requirement can indicate attempts by management to hide overtime work,” the 27th Synthesis Report on Working Conditions in Cambodia’s Garment Sector notes.

It focuses on factors researchers linked to the mass fainting incidents that hit 11 of the 300 garment factories monitored by the program in the six months to October 31. These included “poor nutrition, poor hygiene, the lack of a morning meal, heat stress, poor ventilation, excessive working hours, poor industrial relations and mass psychogenic behaviour”.

“Compliance levels are lower than 50 per cent on several requirements . . . relevant to the fainting incidents,” the report found.

Only 5 per cent of the factories monitored complied with legal requirements on “exceptional overtime” and only 16 per cent complied with the two-hour overtime limit.

Tucker denied that Better Factories was assuming an advocacy role.

“We are factually monitoring the situation and using it to drive change in the best possible way,” she said. “The information is factual. It is not really an opinion piece.”

Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said the report had a different “format”, but he saw no significant change in its content. Low compliance in overtime-related requirements had been noted previously, he said.

Still, the report, which GMAC comments on prior to its publication, “could be a helpful tool [for GMAC members] to identify some problem areas”, he said.

He stressed that factory owners and buyers were working to alleviate the conditions that caused the faintings, but were hindered by the inability to “accurately identify and pinpoint a single factor”.

The government’s policy that exporting factories must be monitored created a competitive advantage for factories here, he said, but  factories were under far more intense media scrutiny than those in some competing countries.

Both Loo and Tucker agreed Cambodia was benefiting from a shift in manufacturing from China to Southeast Asia.