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.