Investigation Report On Women Garment Workers In Kampuchea

Recent reports have found that

About 700000 workers make 5 billion dollars worth of clothing, textiles and shoes every year, accounting for more than 1/3 of the country's GDP.

The report points out that in Armani,

In the clothing factories of Gap, Marks & Spencer, H&M and Joe Fresh, the workers (almost all young women) have a small reward.

Many workers are forced to work in two shifts or three shifts. They sign a temporary contract and will be retaliated once they want to establish a guild or get pregnant.

Although the labor law was enacted in 1997, the Labour Organization "better factory in Kampuchea" was established in 2001, but the situation of abusing workers is still repeated. "Kampuchea"

The conclusion of Human Rights Watch HRW is based on interviews with 270 workers and dozens of experts and industry stakeholders.

This is a situation after a worker reflects the factory's order:

"Before we complete the assignment, we must work all the time.

I can't even go to the bathroom. "

A woman worker said.

Another woman worker added: "they constantly increased their share. At the beginning, they were 8, then increased to 15, then 25, and now it is 30."

"A worker did not want to work overtime, so the leader fired her.

We are most afraid of this.

New generation of labour

Kampuchea garment industry was developed in the 90s of last century, and young women were generally employed.

HRW says that the difference between their low wages and working conditions is simply unthinkable.

Later, through large-scale strikes and protests, the minimum wage for women clothing workers increased from $80 a month in 2013 to $128 in 2014.

This is less than the $157-177 minimum standard of living guaranteed by the Kampuchea government in 2013.

Today, the Kampuchea clothing workers' Democratic Alliance has 6000 members and its vice president is Athit Kong.

In addition to wages, workers and associations call for more work security, reasonable working hours, freedom and freedom from discrimination.

HRW found that employers often sign short-term contracts with workers in order to evade the legal provisions for "payment of maternity leave and seniority wage" and prohibit the establishment of trade union organizations in factories.

Many workers in Kampuchea have not signed a contract.

HRW's report details their endless work and unaccounted for orders for sweatshops such as small and micro businesses and family workshops.

Because of the fact that most of the garment workers are young women aged over 20, pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment are also the main problems faced by women workers.

Law enforcer

Because

It is an important part of Kampuchea's economy, so the government has not seriously implemented the labor law.

The better factory in Kampuchea, founded in 2001, requires every garment exporter to submit a license to third parties.

Subsequently, the Foreign Trade Bureau (BFC) entered Kampuchea.

However, because BFC's main capital comes from enterprises, it can not effectively restrain and supervise enterprises.

Today, BFC is operated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the world bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Since 2007, ILO and IFC have expanded the regulatory power of BFC in Haiti and several developing countries, but there is still no enforcement force.

In this regard, IFC declined to comment.

Western brands and shoppers

In Kampuchea, Western brands determine workers' piecework and time.

Their emergency orders and temporary changes have forced workers to work longer hours under more dangerous conditions.

HRW found that in Kampuchea, H&M, Marks & Spencer and Joe Fresh have a lot of illegal subcontracting.

Of the few factories surveyed by HRW, only H&M often updates the list of foundries.

Kong, vice president of the Kampuchea apparel workers' Democratic Union, said: "these processing factories should announce which brands are reducing orders, so that they can find those brands unwilling to pay the minimum wage.

Some brands have openly indicated that even if wages rise, they will not withdraw factories from Kampuchea.