Khmer Times/Jonathan Cox

A report released yesterday alleged longstanding abuse of worker rights at some of fashion brand Gap’s supplier factories in Cambodia. Drawing from interviews with garment factory workers taken over the last decade, the report claimed that employees at some of Gap’s suppliers suffered from short-term contracts, piece-rate wages and sexual assault.

The report, published by the Asian Floor Wages Alliance (AFWA), pointed out the widespread practice of factories keeping workers on short-term contracts, in violation of the Labor Law. Factories are legally required to issue long-term contracts after two years, but the report cited analysis by Better Factories Cambodia that found only 67 percent of factories abided by this law, down from 76 percent in 2011.

Esther Germans, Chief Technical Advisor of Better Factories Cambodia (BFC), said that without a long-term contract, workers forfeit their maternity leave, attendance bonus, seniority bonus and annual leave. Since they can be fired on short notice, workers without long-term contracts also have less bargaining power with their employers.

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25416/gap-workers-abused--report/

Labor abuses are rife throughout the Indian sub-continent, SEA, China, South America and are exploited by many organizations who take advantage of low cost economy sourcing for their requirements.

India, with huge bonded labor, child labor, labor law violations and trafficking issues is by far the worst based on the sheer size of the population. But the US and EU countries ignore that as sanctioning them wouldn't fit their foreign policies or business agendas.

The world's biggest democracy is anything but, riddled with corruption and child forced prostitution. But as long as only lower castes are involved no one worries.

Until the developed nations who have the money and control world finance stop their hypocrisy things will never improve.