In what is shaping up to be the first of
several pivotal garment wage talks, unions are to meet for the first time today
to discuss the amount they should request for next year’s minimum wage – but
labour leaders and observers say coming to a consensus will be difficult, if
not impossible.
Up to
50 representatives of pro-government, pro-opposition, pro-factory and
independent unions are scheduled to gather at the Green Palace Hotel in Phnom
Penh at 8am. The event was organised by the Cambodian Labour Confederation
(CLC) and several international labour organisations.
The
meeting comes a week before an official two-day workshop of the Ministry of
Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee (LAC). Floor wages at the Kingdom’s garment
and shoe factories stand at $100 per month.
“The
only question is how strong the unions can work together,” said Moeun Tola,
head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC). “How
can the unions maintain their solidarity?”
Following
discussions this month, union leaders will meet with factory representatives in
August, followed by a September forum at the Ministry of Labour that will
include government officials. The LAC, comprising government officials,
industry representatives and union representatives, is scheduled to set next
year’s minimum wage in October, which will then go into effect on January 1.
Without
divulging the lowest wage his organisation could accept, CLC president Ath
Thorn said $160 per month is reasonable, but that the figure could go as low as
the $140 range. But the wide variety of interests in play poses obstacles.
“The
problem this year [is whether] it’s possible … for all unions to agree,” Thorn
said.
Attitudes
regarding what will be acceptable vary.
Next
year’s figure must surpass the $160 unions have demanded in the past year, said
Ken Chhenglang, acting president of the National Independent Federation Textile
Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC).
“It
must be higher than $160, but less than $200,” Chhenglang said in an interview
late last week. “We will not accept $160 anymore. That amount was appropriate
for 2014.”
Chuon
Mom Thol, president of the government-leaning Cambodian Union Federation and
deputy director of the Labour Advisory Committee, said yesterday that he
received an invitation to today’s meeting but will not attend. Any decisions
reached at the meeting will not be recognised by the LAC, since the committee
has organised its own two-day workshop for July 21 and 22, he added.
“If you
want to be fruitful, you need to be [in compliance] with the LAC workers
group,” Mom Thol said.
“If you
take that outcome [from today’s meeting] and give it to me and ask me to submit
it to the LAC, I won’t do it.”
Amid
calls from unions and workers for $160, the LAC’s decision to set minimum
monthly wages at $95, and Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng’s subsequent decision to
raise that figure by $5, sparked nationwide strikes in December. The
demonstrations ended in a bloody crackdown on January 3, when authorities shot dead
at least four people.
Since
that incident, which was followed in later months by the systematic firing of
union leaders in factories and the arrest of strikers, Cambodia’s reputation as
a haven for ethical factory workplaces has suffered, international labour
rights workers have said.
While
not a part of the garment industry’s minimum-wage discussion, Cambodian Food
and Service Workers Federation president Sar Mora said it appears that garment
union leaders may not be able to find an amount that all can agree upon.
“It’s
hard to reach a common position,” Mora said. “I think with some unions, they’ve
[reached] their position already, so they will not get in any common position.”
Mora
also said he believes the LAC’s workshops are likely just a government guise of
taking into account input from unions and workers. If officials were interested
in the opinions of others, Mora wondered, why did they refuse renegotiation of
this year’s industrial minimum wage?
“So far
[the government has shown it] doesn’t really care about the unions’ concerns or
the workers’ concerns,” Mora said. “With a lot of workers on the street and
protesting and the government not caring, it’s really difficult for me to say
that they are concerned with what labour leaders’ concerns are.”
Additional Reporting By Mom Kunthear
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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