Labor policy and administration
Worker rights
Hundreds of workers faint in Kandal SEZ
Hundreds of people working at six different factories in Kandal province’s 7NG Special Economic Zone fainted on 20 November, with most blaming a pesticide that was believed to have caused a separate mass-fainting incident in the area a day earlier. Un Yong, Khsach Kandal district’s deputy ...
More than 100 faint at Kandal toy factory
Nearly 120 workers at a Kandal province toy factory fainted on 19 November morning, with officials citing a nearby farmer spraying his fields with pesticide as the cause. “The farmer of the rice field outside the factory area sprayed the liquid pesticide onto his rice, and then ...
Activists call for delay of controversial union law
A group of more than 20 union leaders filed a petition in front of the National Assembly on 16 November demanding a delay in the passage of the draft trade union law, while yet again requesting a full copy of the controversial legislation. The draft law, which ...
Myanmar maid death draws attention to flouting of domestic worker ban
A Myanmar domestic worker in Singapore fell 18 storeys from a condominium and died on 19 October, according to police reports. The incident has once again cast a spotlight on Singapore’s maid industry, which continues to thrive despite bans and restrictions. Keep reading ...
Laos Federation of Trade Union's seventh congress underway in Vientiane
The seventh nationwide congress of the Lao Federation of Trade Unions (LFTU) opened on 14 October in Vientiane to summarise their work and plan for the year ahead as well as elect a new executive committee. Keep reading ...
Hunger strikers see no end to pay dispute
The Labour Ministry considers the wage dispute at the Han Jen garment factory done and dusted, but workers yesterday told The Myanmar Times their woes are far from solved. “[The labour director] said the Han Jen worker’s dispute is finished and was resolved okay. Actually, we haven’t ...
Factory hunger strike continues
Around 20 factory workers are still hunger striking while effective pay cuts and unpaid salaries continue, despite a government order that employers must implement the new minimum wage across all sectors. Workers at the Han Jen garment factory started the hunger strike on 5 October. They demand their ...
Situation ripe for strikes: study
Short-sightedness, weak adherence to the law and poor working conditions in Cambodia’s garment sector are creating a fertile field for strikes to prevail over negotiations, a recent study released by the Arbitration Council Foundation, an independent labour mediator, has found. According to the study, incidents of ...
H&M workers ‘sold short’
The widespread use of short-term contracts in Cambodia’s garment industry has come under fire in a new report, which looks at ongoing issues with the practice at H&M supplier factories amid pledges of reform. A Short-Term Solution, which was released by Swedish NGO Fair Action, uses ...
Myanmar fishermen compensated for years of unpaid work on Thai vessels
After a long fight, a handful of Myanmar fishermen yesterday received compensation for their work on fishing trawlers plying remote Indonesian waters. Out of the 105 fishermen repatriated to Myanmar on 6 September, 65 were sent reimbursements on 22 September, according to the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta. “We are ...
