Day of Action for Cambodia
Issued on September 17, 2014 at 09:23 AM
In early October, the Labour Advisory Committee in Cambodia is to announce a new minimum wage for workers in the garment, textile and footwear industry, which generates US$5 billion in revenue for the country. At this critical juncture, a coalition of Cambodian garment unions has called for international solidarity to support their demands for a raise in the minimum wage from US$100 to US$177 a month.
IndustriALL Global Union, the ITUC and UNI Global Union are jointly asking affiliates to join Cambodian unions in a Day of Action on today 17 September and organize protests at Cambodian embassies to demand a living wage for garment workers.
Garment workers in Cambodia deserve to live in dignity and receive a fair wage. Poverty wages mean that many workers are undernourished and compelled to work exhausting overtime hours to survive. Your support for our similar Day of Action on 10 February was instrumental in helping to release 23 Cambodian wage protestors. Please show your support now and help make a difference again.Since there are only a few Cambodian embassies, you could also help by sending a letter (See model below) directly to the government at the following address:
H. E. Hun Sen,
Prime Minister
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia
Email cabinet1b@camnet.com.kh
17 September 2014
H.E. Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Raise the Minimum Wage Now
Honourable Prime Minister
On behalf of [name of your union], I write to urge you to enact an immediate and substantial rise to the minimum wage so that garment workers, whose labour supports a $5 billion industry, can finally live with dignity. We fully support garment workers and their trade unions in their 17 September call on the government to deliver on a living wage.
Last year, the government commissioned a study for the purpose of informing the Labour Advisory Committee on establishing an appropriate minimum rate wage based on expenditures for basic necessities. This study found that the minimum wage should be between $157 and $177 dollars a month. This number is also close to the amount had the original minimum wage for the sector been adjusted for inflation over time – around $170. Instead, the government set the wage rate at $95 (later $100) per month on 24 December. This move predictably led to an industrial relations crisis, provoking mass strikes and demonstrations that tragically ended in bloodshed.
We are also disappointed that there has been a nine-month delay with no evidence of progress in terms of setting up a new wage setting mechanism despite the technical assistance of the International Labour Organization. Similarly, there is no evidence that the government intends to set an evidence-based minimum wage in the garment sector this year based on that technical assistance. We urge you to make use of the technical advice available, and to negotiate with representative trade unions, to ensure fair and just wages are enacted that can provide the basis for social and economic stability.
A living wage is not only necessary for workers to live with dignity but it is also essential for the long-term sustainability of the industry. Indeed, that is why some international apparel brands have indicated their support for a higher minimum wage. Cambodia will simply not move forward if the economic strategy is to continue to rely on a low wage system.
When the government meets in October to review the minimum wage, this is a key opportunity to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers, and to secure a stable future for the whole industry. We seek your Government’s support to raise the minimum wage now.
Sincerely,