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Cambodian garment industry in the dock over poverty wages
A people’s tribunal to investigate the state of poverty pay in the Cambodian garment industry is being held by the country’s garment workers’ unions and human rights groups.
This came after recent mass faintings caused by malnutrition, and strikes that have led to over 200,000 workers taking to the streets protesting over poor pay and work conditions.
During the tribunal, an expert panel of judges will call for evidence from a wide variety of stakeholders in the Cambodian garment industry including workers, manufactures and multinational brands such as Adidas, Puma and others.
Tola Moeun head of labour programmes for the Community Legal Education Centre, said: “Despite experiencing sustained growth in the sector, Cambodia’s minimum wage allowance is US $66 a month and is currently the lowest of all its neighbouring states. This wage amounts to around half that required to adequately meet the average worker’s basic needs.”
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation said: “Both Better Factories Cambodia and government representatives have attributed the phenomenon of mass fainting directly to inadequate salaries, and the effect these have had on workers' nutrition and their ability to rest. Something must be done about this.”
The tribunal, which started yesterday and runs from February 5-8, is called the 'People’s Tribunal on for Minimum Living Wages and Decent Working Conditions for Garment Workers as a Fundamental Right’. It has been organised by the International Asia Floor Wage Alliance and the Asia Floor Wage Cambodia, both coalitions of garment workers' trade unions and workers' rights groups.
Jeroen Merk, international secretariat of the Clean Clothes Campaign, said: “With this tribunal we hope to see some real commitment from big brands buying from Cambodia to start addressing the real needs of their workers - a living wage should be at the root of company policies.”
