GMAC meets over garment wage increase (Date: 21 Jun 10)
Friday, 18 June 2010 15:02 Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis Phnom Penh Post
HE Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia held a meeting on Thursday to discuss a proposed 40 percent increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, two days after a trade union representing more than 80,000 workers announced plans to hold a three-day strike next month.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said it was too early to comment on how the body views the proposed increase.
“We have a position on minimum wage, but we are not ready to disclose it to the media,” he said.
In a letter sent to the Interior Ministry Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said he planned to organise a three-day sit-down strike beginning July 13 to press his demand that the monthly minimum wage be raised from US$50 to $70. The announcement came less than two weeks after the Labour Ministry urged unionists to hold off on strikes so that negotiations could go forward.
Under a 2006 agreement, the minimum wage is set to be discussed at some point this year, but Chea Mony has in recent weeks demanded
immediate action.
Alonzo Suson, country programme director at the Trade Union Support Organisation, an NGO, said Thursday that he believed the strike threat had “totally undermined the whole process of the minimum wage negotiations”, and added that he did not believe a general strike would be carried out.
“FTU has never had a general strike,” he said. “There may be some sit-down strikes in some factories.”
Loo said Thursday’s GMAC meeting had also addressed the government’s first Law on Trade Unions, a draft of which was sent out for consultations earlier this month. He also declined to provide details of that discussion beyond saying that GMAC would seek clarification on some points from the government.
“We identified some areas of difference between it and the existing Labour Law, and there are some articles we are concerned about,” he said. Go to Top Garment workers plan to strike for higher pay (Date: 18 Jun 10)
Thursday, 17 June 2010 15:03 Kim Yuthana and Ney Someta Phnom Penh Post
TRADE union representing more than 80,000 garment workers plans to hold a three-day strike next month to demand a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage, despite pleas from the Ministry of Labour that it await the outcome of pending negotiations.
In a letter sent Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said the intent of the strike, which will run for three days starting July 13, will be to demand that the government raise the minimum wage for garment workers to “at least” US$70 per month. The current monthly minimum wage is $50.
“All the workers should raise their voices in order to achieve a reasonable salary and better conditions for work,” he said in the letter, copies of which will soon be distributed to the 86,000 garment workers the union represents.
Another aim of the strike will be to push for fair treatment of workers at the Tack Fat garment factory in Meanchey district. During a protest last month, some 87 workers there accused management of unfairly cutting their shifts after they refused to accept different positions.
The announcement came less than two weeks after the Labour Ministry urged unionists to hold off on strikes so that minimum wage negotiations could go forward. In a letter dated June 3 and addressed “to all workers”, the ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee said union members should consider staging a strike only after attempts at negotiating a new minimum wage had been exhausted.
“The Labour Advisory Committee would like to call for all workers to practise their rights properly, according to the law,” states the letter, signed by Labour Minister Vong Soth.
Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said he welcomed a discussion of the issues raised by Chea Mony in his letter, expressing hope that they would “be put into consideration”.
But Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak warned that Chea Mony would face the full extent of the law if the strike led to violence. “Chea Mony will be put in a position to face the law if he does something illegal,” he said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Chea Mony said Wednesday that he had decided to back away from a previous plan to resign as president of the FTU, announcing that he would run in elections scheduled for June 27.
Chea Mony said on May 16 that he would step down as president, citing health and other reasons. On Wednesday, however, he said FTU members had convinced him to stay on.
“I will continue to serve the workers for three more years as president of FTUWKC in response to the suggestion of workers who sent their petitions to support me,” he said. “They don’t want me to resign. They need me to help them combat factory owners who do not respect Cambodia’s labour laws and who look down on workers”.
He added that no other candidates have been nominated to oppose him in the election. Go to Top Chea Mony reconsiders resignation (Date: 10 Jun 10)
 Thursday, 10 June 2010 15:02 Tep Nimol
CHEA Mony said Wednesday that he was reconsidering plans to step down as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, saying he had been inundated with requests from members who want him to stand as a candidate in elections scheduled for later this month.
On May 16, Chea Mony announced that he would resign from his position at the end of his current term and would not stand as a candidate in the June 27 elections. He cited health reasons for his decision, and added that a change of leadership could benefit the FTU.
“I want the union to be progressive,” he said. “If we want our country to be progressive we must have a change of leader.”
On Wednesday, Chea Mony said he is still ill and physically weak, but that statements of support he had received had given him “emotional strength”.
“I have a disease, and I have held the position for two mandates already, which means six years,” he said. “In the future I have no will to be president of the union anymore, but now I have received hundreds of letters from workers requesting me to be a candidate for the president election, and the letters encourage me to consider putting myself forward again.”
Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun said he would put himself on the ballot if necessary, but that he would prefer for Chea Mony to continue in the post.
“Nobody wants to be president now because they would like Chea Mony to continue his work,” he said. “We will try our best to push Chea Mony to be president again. If there is no choice, I will do it, but I have not registered my name for election.”
FTU secretary general Mann Seng Hak said people who had originally intended to stand for the role of president had bowed out of the running to “leave space blank for Chea Mony to be president for the next term”.
He added that there are currently no other candidates for the position.Go to Top |
logo-animal_01.gif)
