Source: Just-style
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.
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.
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