Cambodia Sets New Garment Sector Wage At $140

The government on Thursday set a new monthly minimum wage of $140 for Cambodia's approximately 500,000 garment workers, up from the $128 they had been earning for the past year.



Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that the new wage was a good outcome after negotiations between government, union and factory representatives initially failed to agree on a number the day before.



"Today, the Labour Advisory Committee endorsed $135, but later, the prime minister [Hun Sen] added $5, so the final minimum wage for 2016 is $140," Sour said.



"I think $140 is a happy number for everybody," he added. "Of course, it might not reach everyone's expectations, but at least it's better. According to the atmosphere of the meeting, [all sides] looked OK and so far, with the mediation, we learned that for the unions, it is likely acceptable for the $140."



He said he did not anticipate any strikes in retaliation to the decision, because "the unions are very mature and care about their members."



The path toward setting the sector's minimum wage every year is a three-part process that begins with the working group, comprised of government, union and factory representatives.



Their meeting Wednesday failed to reach a consensus on a wage to put to the smaller LAC, which was presented instead with the factories' $133, $135 suggested by the government and $160 from the unions.



According to The Cambodia Daily on Thursday, all but four of the votes cast by the LAC were for the $135 wage. None were cast for the factories' proposal, and the union wage received two votes. There were two abstentions.



Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union—the country's largest independent union, in terms of membership—could not be reached Thursday. On Wednesday, he and three other union representatives walked out of the working group talks.



William Conklin, country director of the US-based Solidarity Center, a labour rights organization, told AA on Thursday that while the three wage proposals were not surprising, "what is surprising is that some unions did not vote for their own figure in the LAC meeting, so that shows you that when the independent unions walked out yesterday, they had a good sense of how this would go down."



"Is it a good outcome? One needs to ask the workers: Is this a base wage that is sufficient enough for their regular work so they don't need to rely on overtime? I tend to think not, and they will still need overtime."



Cambodia's largely female garment-sector workforce is responsible for producing clothes and shoes for huge international brands, such as Gap, H&M and Adidas.



However, the $5.5-million sector has been plagued with allegations from advocacy groups and some unions that workers are not adequately paid for their labour.



In many cases, workers opt-in to work overtime hours in order to make ends meet. According to data from the Asian Development Bank, Cambodia's inflation rate is at 1.3 percent, but that is forecast to rise to 2.7 percent in 2016.



The minimum-wage issue was the source of widespread discontent that spiralled into one of the bloodiest episodes in Cambodia's modern history, after the monthly wage was set at $100 in late 2013.



This union-led movement for a higher wage, which began in earnest in December 2013, culminated in a series of protests and strikes staged on January 2 and January 3 in a factory district in Phnom Penh.



On Jan. 3, five people were shot dead after military police officers opened fire on the crowds of people, killing five and injuring scores more.



Among the five is a 16-year-old boy, Khem Sopath, who is believed dead. He was last seen bleeding heavily from the chest and has never been seen again since, prompting his parents and rights groups to call for an independent investigation into his disappearance.



While the sector has not seen such levels of violence since, a few hundred workers held rallies Wednesday at one of Phnom Penh's industrial parks, calling for a living wage. - Phnum Penh