Garment makers urge regulation of unions in Cambodia
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
PHNOM PENH, Sept 4 (AFP): Cambodian garment makers today urged the government to better regulate labour unions, saying illegal strikes and power struggles among more than 1,000 workers' groups threaten the key textile trade.
With an average of four unions per factory, managers spend more than half of their time negotiating often conflicting demands while productivity plummets, said Van Sou Ieng of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC).
"In short, there are too many unions," he told a meeting between the private sector and government officials.
"The factory is becoming a place where unions fight for popularity as they seek to win members, and this is to the detriment ... of the workers," he said.
Illegal strikes-sometimes as many as two a day-and repercussions against workers who do not walk off the job are also endemic, he said.
"The frequency of these occurrences ... is becoming alarming, and if left unattended and unresolved, they will destroy Cambodia's reputation for attracting and maintaining investors," he said.
The garment sector remains a key pillar of impoverished Cambodia's economy, employing some 350,000 people and accounting for 80 per cent of the country's export earnings.
But the industry is increasingly vulnerable to foreign competition, and manufacturers fear labour upheavals could drive future investors away, sinking the sector.
With an average of four unions per factory, managers spend more than half of their time negotiating often conflicting demands while productivity plummets, said Van Sou Ieng of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC).
"In short, there are too many unions," he told a meeting between the private sector and government officials.
"The factory is becoming a place where unions fight for popularity as they seek to win members, and this is to the detriment ... of the workers," he said.
Illegal strikes-sometimes as many as two a day-and repercussions against workers who do not walk off the job are also endemic, he said.
"The frequency of these occurrences ... is becoming alarming, and if left unattended and unresolved, they will destroy Cambodia's reputation for attracting and maintaining investors," he said.
The garment sector remains a key pillar of impoverished Cambodia's economy, employing some 350,000 people and accounting for 80 per cent of the country's export earnings.
But the industry is increasingly vulnerable to foreign competition, and manufacturers fear labour upheavals could drive future investors away, sinking the sector.