Workers Rights in Cambodia

Since the mid-1990s, Cambodia has experienced extraordinarily rapid growth in its garment industry. Yet this growth has largely come in spite of few effective protections for workers rights in Cambodia.

Today, around 80 percent of the garments produced in Cambodia are bound for the United States market where they are sold under familiar names like the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, The Children’s Place, Ann Taylor Loft and Dress Barn. In 1999, the US and Cambodian governments entered into a three-year textile and apparel agreement that provides a quota on textile and apparel imports from Cambodia and reduced tariff rates on US exports to Cambodia. The agreement is unique as one of the only US trade agreements that link trade and improved labor conditions. The agreement allows for an annual increase in quota if conditions are found by the US Government to “substantially comply” with Cambodian labor law and core labor standards. As a counterpart to the agreement, both governments have supported the large-scale monitoring project undertaken by the International Labor Organization (ILO) to evaluate and report on the current working conditions in Cambodia.

In the context of these developments, reliable, independent organizations have a fundamental role to play in improving labor conditions by holding the government, factory management and multinational corporations accountable for working conditions. Recognizing this growing need in Cambodia, the Lawyers Committee worked with three prominent Cambodian groups - the Cambodian Labour Organization (CLO), Khemara (a women’s rights organization), and the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force - to help them create the Cambodian Labor Training Coalition (CLTC). The aim of the CLTC is to help achieve sustainable improvements in factories by conducting regular trainings of workers and management, and by assessing needs in factories to help management and workers develop and implement effective communication, grievance and dispute resolution procedures. The CLTC is scheduled to conduct their work in factories supplying to the Gap and Nike in 2002.

U.S. Law & Security | Asylum in the U.S. | Human Rights Defenders | Human Rights Issues | International Justice |
International Refugee Policy | Workers Rights | Media Room | About Us | Contribute | Jobs | Contact Us | Publications | Search | Site Map | Home