The Government of Cambodia
has urged the workers’ unions and garment unit owners to be flexible,
after the wage negotiations ended in a deadlock this week.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Sat Samouth, Under Secretary of State in the
Ministry of Labour, said he has requested the union leaders to decrease
their demand and also urged the representatives of the Garment
Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) to increase the wage they
would like to give, to reach an early compromise.
He said the Government is optimistic that both the sides would be able to agree on new minimum wage by April.
At the two-day talks attended by representatives of several workers’
unions as well as the GMAC, garment entrepreneurs stuck to their stand
of increasing the minimum wage from the current US$ 61 per month to US$
72 per month.
On the other hand, representatives
of garment workers’ unions were demanding that minimum wage be doubled
to about US$ 120 per month at the start of the negotiations, and had
toned down their demand to US$ 100 per month when the talks ended.
The two-day talks between the employers and the workers’ unions were
coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Social
Affairs.
In spite of failing to agree on the new
minimum wage for garment workers, both the parties have decided to
nominate their representatives for an independent committee that would
be established to decide on the minimum wage issue.
The Cambodian apparel industry employs over 300,000 workers, with more than 90 percent of them being female.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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