Labor
Development and assistance for labor rights and labor unions
ASEAN strengthens cooperation on protection of migrant workers
Jakarta (VNA) – The 16th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (16th ACMW Meeting) has been held recently in Jakarta via videoconference. The event was hosted and chaired by ...
VNA
Cambodia’s modern slavery nightmare: the human trafficking crisis overlooked by authorities
t 3.28am on 29 June 2021, Xu Mingjian crept out of a dorm room inside a gated compound in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and made his way to the second floor, where his friend, another victim of trafficking, was waiting. The two had hatched a desperate plan to ...
Lindsey Kennedy, Nathan Paul Southern and Huang Yan
Severance pay remains a struggle for Southeast Asian workers
Garment workers at Thailand’s Brilliant Alliance factory were granted leave, only to learn their employer had shut down when they returned to their worksite in early March 2021. “Everyone was abandoned and never went back to work, there was nothing from the company about compensation,” said ...
JACK BROOK
As road accidents rise, garment workers face a dangerous commute
Early on the morning of 12 February while heading to her shift at the garment factory in Kampong Speu province, Soth Vy was the last of about 40 workers to climb onto the standing platform of the truck that came to her village. She enjoyed ...
ASHLEY HUI YIN TAN
Striking casino workers stand against crackdown
Chhim Sithar knew she would be arrested when she arrived at the site of a protest organised by employees of the NagaWorld casino. Police violently grabbed and arrested the union leader when she attempted to join the demonstration by striking workers in Phnom Penh on 4 ...
JACK BROOK
ILO forecasts slow jobs recovery in ASEAN region
Working hours in the ASEAN region are projected to only partially recover in 2021 and 2022 according to new research by the International Labour Organization (ILO). COVID-19 and the ASEAN labour market: Impact and policy response highlights the heavy impact of the pandemic on ASEAN economies ...
KPL
Heavy Job Losses in Myanmar Since Coup: ILO Report
Myanmar lost an estimated 1.2 million jobs in the second quarter following the February military coup that crippled an economy already weakened by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). “Myanmar was already facing economic stress with jobs and livelihoods under threat as ...
THE IRRAWADDY
Cambodian Unions and NGOs Call for Workers’ Safety to Combat COVID-19
Cambodian NGOs and trade unions called on Phnom Penh Wednesday to improve health and safety for workers in the country to combat its recent coronavirus outbreak, while the governments of neighboring Vietnam and Laos took precautions Wednesday to keep the virus from spreading within its ...
RFA’s Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese Services. Translated by Samean Yun, Max Avary and Chau Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Tech meets tradition: Can digital tools boost Cambodia’s informal workers?
At 62 years old Pak Chhen still rises early, often before the sun is up, to travel the rutted roads to Kampot’s sea salt farms, where she procures bulk packages of the product that is destined for markets across the southern province. And while at first ...
STEW POST
Myanmar garment workers urge global brands to denounce coup
Tin Tin Wei used to toil 11 hours a day, six days week sewing jackets at a factory in Myanmar. But she hasn’t stitched a single garment since a coup in February. Instead, the 26-year-old union organiser has been protesting in the streets — and trying ...