Statement
On September 13-17, 2010, over 200,000 garment workers in Cambodia bravely exercised their fundamental and constitutional right to strike in defense of their working conditions. The steps taken by the workers were peaceful and in accordance with correct legal procedure.
In spite of this, more than a thousand workers were subsequently laid off by angry employers. As of now, 779 workers remain suspended or have been dismissed – with severe impact on the workers and their families. Now more than a month has passed since the strike and, with no income, the workers face losing not only their income but their homes.
It is an outrage to human and labour rights that workers taking peaceful action to seek a living and decent minimum wage for their work, should have to pay with their very jobs as the price.
As trade unions and labour organizations in Asia, we express our strong solidarity with the Cambodian garment workers and unions who have with their actions rejected the sovereignty of employers over the lives of the workers who produce the profits; and who have asserted workers’ just claim to a decent living wage for their productive work. We condemn the employers who are profiting from workers in a country where the income level is so low, and apply pressure to keep even that very low level. We also condemn the buyers who claim they have no influence on suppliers and no responsibility at all for the low wages and other working conditions in the supplying factories. By their massive purchase at low cost from Cambodian supplying factories, the buyers are complicit and influential; they have the leverage with the government for which it is their moral and legal obligation to use for improvement of workers’ welfare, not their detriment.
Background
Cambodia is a major sourcing country for clothes of the brands including The Gap, H&M and Zara, (the three top global brands) among others. The Cambodian garment industry is a vital income generator for the nation, and with employment in this industry of 400,000, more than a million lives depend on this industry, in a country that is still regarded as one of the poorest in Asia.
80% of the garments produced are destined for export to the United States, to be sold at high prices beyond the reach of any of the Cambodian workers.
Most of the garment workers in Cambodia are women. The vast majority of employers pay the minimum wage to the workers, though some pay less to temporary/probationary workers. Until recently the minimum wage was just US$61 and US$55 (for probationary). Yet the price of food and daily living costs has increased greatly in the past two years, and according to detailed research done by CIDS (2009), a minimum wage for the nation which would be in accordance with the constitution – allowing work that meets needs and is in dignity – should be US$93. This level of US$93 is based on the Constitution.
The government in a tripartite mechanism, the Labour Advisory Council, has recently approved (on July 8, 2010) a minimum wage of US$61 per month (for regular workers; and US$55 for probationary workers) which is far below this level, and which is to be fixed for the coming four years – until 2014 – regardless of the external changes in prices. This is not only without foundation in the needs of the workers, but is deeply inhumane, and exposes workers to risk of exploitation and family financial disasters due to their working poverty.
However, as pointed out by NIFTUC and CCAWDU, the two union confederations which did not accept the ruling of the LAC, trade union members and workers were not consulted on the new minimum wage. In contrast, CCAWDU had conducted group surveys among workers and found overwhelming support for action in protest against the low new minimum wage. Backed up by the thumbprints of 60,000 workers who said they supported the move, CCAWDU and NIFTUC announced their intention to strike well in advance.
From September 13-17, 2010, CCAWDU and NIFTUC followed up their intentions, and entered into a large scale strike which began on Monday with about 50,000 workers on the first day, and which eventually reached over 200,000 workers.
In the wake of these, more than a thousand workers have been suspended from work or dismissed. While many of them have been reinstated, now there are still 779 workers who have been suspended or dismissed, and not yet reinstated. Most of these workers are from four Hong Kong-owned factories.
Therefore, to the parties that are opposing or hindering the workers’ free exercise of their rights as workers and citizens of Cambodia, we have the following words:
To Hong Kong factories operating in Cambodia, particularly Addchance, River Rich, Winner and Goldfame factories:
We condemn the dismissals of the workers and the trade union leaders. We demand Addchance, River Rich, Winner and Goldfame factories for the reinstatement of the dismissed workers immediately.
The apparel industry in Hong Kong is still important in Hong Kong and the global apparel industry. It is the second largest exports of apparel worldwide after China. A report by Oxfam Hong Kong and CSR Asia (‘Transparency Report’, 2006, 2009) has reported the egregious lack of transparency and general poor awareness of globally recognized labour standards.
As a major importer, exporter and financing base of the apparel industry, we strongly demand that owners and employers of garment and apparel producing companies respect the workers in every country that is supplying to them, including China, Hong Kong and Cambodia. Labour violations are rife in these countries yet not fully enforced by the government; and the employers take advantage. While government processes are not sufficiently consultative or have gaps in setting the standard for wages and work conditions, workers whether or not in unions, must be able freely and without threat of job loss to strike or take other collective actions to assert the fundamental right of workers, which is to collectively bargain and to collectively act.
To employer federations in Cambodia, AND to the consumer brands, including The Gap, H&M and Zara, among others:
We condemn the garment factory employers as represented by GMAC that have utterly violated workers’ basic rights by dismissing them in response to the workers’ strikes.
On September 29, 2010, the government of Cambodia issued the instruction to companies to withdraw all complaints submitted to courts, stop the dismissal of union leaders and reinstate all dismissed and suspended strike leaders. Yet until now, nearly 800 union leaders and workers in around 20 factories are still unable to return to their jobs.
We strongly condemn the pre-condition placed by GMAC on the dismissed and suspended workers, that they must issue an apology letter for initiating the strike. We support the position of CCAWDU and the workers, that the strike was a just one, which was strongly provoked by the LAC’s refusal to recognize what was expressed by a very large number of garment workers, that the July 8-implemented minimum wage was insufficient and unjust.
Furthermore, we are outraged to learn that the compliance officer of H&M, a brand that is a core member in the FLA, has not played a conciliatory role by persuading employers to reinstate unjustly fired workers, but rather has helped to personally draft a ‘regret letter’ to satisfy GMAC, which the dismissed workers must sign, that places responsibility for company losses and workers’ lost jobs on themselves and promise to ‘follow the instructions of the management of the company’ and not ‘stage strikes on unreasonable ground’. Such an act exposes the shameful face of the global brand H&M, which is thus participating in employers’ repression of the lowest wage workers’ basic rights.
We strongly criticize the hypocrisy and damage caused by brands which claim corporate social responsibility and merely condemn governments for lax labour laws and enforcement, while precisely exploiting and benefiting from government laxness, to extract profits from workers at the expense of their lives.
We demand:
1. that the suspended workers be reinstated
2. that the factories concerned stop such union busting immediately
3. that negotiation with union representatives be initiated as soon as possible
ATNC Monitoring Network
9 November 2010