Labor
Labor policy and administration
Quarry incident raises alarm for work safety
When rescue workers retrieved the last body from a collapsed quarry in Yen Lam District, Thanh Hoa Province on 23 January, it raised the total number of work-related deaths in the central province to 20 since the beginning of 2016. The quarry collapse itself led ...
Ho Chi Minh City cleans up the workplace
Workplace safety and hygiene improved slightly at Ho Chi Minh City companies last year, according to the city Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health. Speaking at a meeting held to review labour safety and hygiene on 20 January, Pham Thi Ngoc Loan, the centre’s deputy head, ...
Myanmar recruiters boycott Malaysia
Overseas employment agencies, angry at “bullying” from the Malaysian government, have resolved to boycott the country. Agency chiefs say they will no longer send Myanmar migrant workers to Malaysia, as the recruitment industry has been monopolised by a newly instituted system that has changed the ...
Migrant fishermen to be cremated in Thailand
A group of Cambodian migrant fishermen is preparing to cremate five colleagues in Thailand’s southern Ranong province after they were struck by a mystery illness while working on a commercial fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean, an official said on 18 January. Cheam Lamatin, the labor ...
Business group airs union law concerns
Some of the country’s top business leaders laid out their main concerns with a controversial draft union law during a meeting with CPP lawmakers on 18 January, including a stipulation that would let only 10 people form a union at a workplace. The bill, which would ...
PPSEZ workers protest seeking unpaid wages
Negotiations over salaries and severance pay are underway at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, after workers from a Turkish-owned garment factory that ceased production earlier this month staged protests there last week. Weibo Group’s Cambodian branch employed around 1,000 workers in a PPSEZ factory before ...
As ASEAN takes symbolic step toward unity, Vietnam officials want new labor barriers
Now that the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has officially been launched, with the goal of creating a common regional market where skilled workers can move freely, officials in Vietnam began to fear that many Vietnamese are not ready for the tough competition ahead. Speaking at a ...
CPP, CNRP agree to let strike clause stand
The controversial draft union law clause requiring a 50 per cent plus one vote by members to authorise a strike will stand, lawmakers from both parties said on 14 January, though clarity is still required to define how that quorum should be shaped. The strike clause ...
Hundreds pray for release of unionists
Hundreds of workers from the Agile Sweater factory in Kampong Speu province gathered in front of the provincial court on 13 January, praying for authorities to release five unionists arrested at the factory on 12 January. The workers lit incense sticks as they massed in prayer, ...
Labour agencies mull boycott of Malaysia
A tenfold increase in visa fees has prompted employment agencies to consider boycotting Malaysia, long a favoured destination of Myanmar migrant workers. The threat, which could be backed up by demonstrations, followed an announcement by the Malaysian embassy to raise visa application costs from US$6 ...