Unions

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   ...

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 ...

The Cambodian government set the new monthly minimum wage for the country’s billion-dollar garment sector at $140 on 8 October—up from $128—more than what factory owners wanted but far less than the raise demanded by some unions. Keep reading ...

Garment worker unions on 30 September decried a preliminary, government-suggested increase to the minimum wage as being far too close to what they perceive as a lowball offer from employers. As tripartite wage talks continue, unions said officials from the government’s Labour Advisory Committee had on 29 ...

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 ...

Following weeks of quarrelling, Cambodia’s garment unions on 29 September agreed to demand a monthly industry minimum wage of $168 – only to find themselves miles apart from employers who are refusing to consider an increase beyond the rate of inflation. Leading up to ongoing tripartite minimum-wage ...

The tripartite working group tasked with setting the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment industry is slated to officially convene on 28 September, with the results of the negotiations to be announced on 5 October if all goes to plan. Keep reading ...

A secret ballot on 23 September failed to resolve Cambodian garment union splits over what to demand at upcoming minimum wage talks, with at least one independent union rejecting the majority vote of $158 and vowing to put forward $178. The division came a day after Labour ...

Ministry of Labour spokesman Heng Sour on 22 September threatened legal action against those confusing the concepts of “minimum” and “living” wages, as he outlined the method and schedule for upcoming minimum wage talks for the garment sector. In an apparent swipe at recent research showing garment ...

In a strongly worded defence of the proposed trade union law, employer association CAMFEBA released a position paper on 2 September claiming the law would curb instances of illegal strikes and a proliferation of minority unions, which it says is needed to harmonise the country’s troubled ...