Cambodia: Garment Factories Thwarting Unions

Government Should Enforce Rights of Workers to Unionize, Demonstrate

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

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  Garment workers and union leaders protest for better working conditions on International Labor Day in Phnom Penh on May 1, 2013.
  © Reuters 2013

The Cambodian government should ensure that garment factories stop deploying union-busting strategies and respect workers’ rights. Global apparel brands need to make sure their suppliers allow workers to form independent unions without interference, and that union representatives can be in factories without threats and retaliation.

Brad Adams, Asia director

(Bangkok) – The Cambodian government should ensure that garment factories stop intimidating and threatening workers seeking to form unions and assert their labor rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should cease banning public demonstrations and using security forces to disperse worker protests, and instead enforce the country’s labor laws.

Cambodian garment factories supplying international brands regularly use threats, firing, and non-renewal of temporary employment contracts to interfere with workers’ rights to establish and participate in independent unions, Human Rights Watch said. On January 17, 2014, international brands wrote a public letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen supporting workers’ rights to unionize, but they should do more to ensure their suppliers comply with the law and cease anti-union practices.

“The Cambodian government should ensure that garment factories stop deploying union-busting strategies and respect workers’ rights,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Global apparel brands need to make sure their suppliers allow workers to form independent unions without interference, and that union representatives can be in factories without threats and retaliation.” Read the full article at Human Rights Watch.