Formal labor

Cambodia’s Labour Minister Ith Samheng made a lengthy defence of the draft trade union law on 30 December, claiming it would stabilise the Kingdom’s troubled labour relations, even as he pledged to find the “mastermind” behind recent protests in the Svay Rieng town of Bavet. Speaking ...

More than 200 workers at Htate Tan Myanmar garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar township’s industrial zone 4 have been protesting in support of a demand for unpaid wages since 14 December. Ma Moe Sandar, a clerk from the factory, told The Myanmar Times the factory had not ...

The persistence of dangerous and demeaning forms of work remains a major challenge for the Cambodia’s development, according to the UN’s annual Human Development Report (HDR) launched on 14 December by the United Nations Development Programme. Dubbed “Work for Human Development”, the 2015 report finds the Asia-Pacific region home ...

As ASEAN member states race to get ready for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) integration later this month, one of the pillars of the new economic bloc is the free flow of skilled labour across borders, with Cambodian industry experts unperturbed by the possibility of ...

Thai Union Group Plc, one of the world’s largest seafood producers, will stop using subcontractors for shrimp pre-processing and will bring all operations in-house in order to improve worker protection. “From 1 January 2016 onwards, all processing work will be directly controlled by Thai Union, ensuring ...

Cambodia has signed a long-anticipated agreement to resume the legal flow of domestic workers to Malaysia, putting an end to a ban introduced more than four years ago amid reports of serious migrant abuses, which had led to multiple deaths. A statement released on 10 December evening ...

A Labour Ministry official on 9 December called out international clothing brands for not fulfilling a pledge last year to increase the amount they pay for clothing to support minimum wage rises in Cambodia’s garment sector, according to a statement. Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour was speaking ...

A migrant rights network has appealed to the Myanmar and Thai governments to reach a solution on a worker registration standoff, and to take steps to alleviate the exploitation of workers by brokers. The call comes as the two sides prepare to meet in Thailand on ...

The government has agreed to delay the passage of a controversial law governing the trade union sector, announcing it would set up a national workshop to work out the legislation’s thornier clauses on 15 December. The decision comes after repeated protestations from a coalition of 23 ...

Some 25 Lao labour inspectors were trained on new labour law tools in Vientiane to help them educate workers and managers about their workplace rights and obligations on 26 November in Vientiane. The tools and related training programme were developed by the government with support of ...