Walmart, Nike and Others Decline to Back $40 Monthly Wage Hike in Cambodia’s Garment Industry

[geovalin]

Major Western retailers sourcing clothing from Cambodia—a country marked by authoritarian rule and regularly ranked as one of the world’s worst countries for workers—are declining to endorse a proposed hike in the garment industry’s minimum wage that amounts to roughly $40 a month. Like many of its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Cambodia is a popular spot for American and European brands to subcontract production of textiles and shoes. It offers easy market access and, above all, cheap labor. Against that backdrop, garment and footwear exports have more than doubled over the past decade—with suppliers pulling in contracts from top-name corporations like Walmart and Nike.

 

But the industry is not without conflict. In recent years, its overwhelmingly female workforce has led mass strikes and protests to demand higher wages, and several workers were killed in a police crackdown in January 2014. Further tension looms.  This month, labor unions representing hundreds of thousands of garment workers proposed a hike in the industry-wide minimum wage from $140 a month to $179.60. They’ve been met with stiff opposition from the factory owners’ lobby, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which countered with its own monthly minimum wage offer of $144.20. Many Western brands, too, have declined to endorse the unions’ proposal.

 

In These Times reached out to six of the top U.S. and European brands with contracts in Cambodia—Walmart, Nike, Adidas, Levi Strauss & Co., H&M and Gap Inc.—asking for their position on the unions’ proposed minimum wage hike. None of them endorsed the proposal. Walmart and Nike did not respond; Adidas, Levi’s, H&M and Gap all highlighted their support of ongoing negotiations. "H&M welcomes a regular and transparent minimum wage setting process for the Cambodian garment industry," said Ulrika Isaksson, a spokeswoman for the company. "We strongly hope that the parties will negotiate in good faith and reach an acceptable agreement for all."

 

read more http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19492/walmart_nike_and_others_decline_to_back_40_monthly_wage_hike_in_cambodias_g

 

 

 

 

Cole Stangler

[little mary sunshine]

So from now on I will avoid buying Nike brand and shopping

at Wallmart.  Other brands to be boycotted if they oppose 

an increase for these poor workers.

[elgordo38]

Kind of reminds me of that Cyndi Lauper song "True Colors" Again these heartless merchants of greed show that they care little about workers wages benefits or anything that would even give them the workers a modem of decency. These are the same corporations that scream for patent and brand protection. Shop for their products in Thailand or the USA the price is the same. Sometimes I wonder if the knock offs are not of better quality. If you have followed the Wells Fargo affair you can see the type of utter control that they want to excesize over workers. These same workers as in the WF affair are the first kicked to the curb as a sign of good/bad faith. As the above poster indicates their products should be boycotted. Unfortunately 99% of the worlds population will never get the message or don't care. Sounds like the Guantanamo prisoners are treated better. The following video explains it best. The new world order

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIu-99L68Q

[Baerboxer]

And how many of those wonderful caring organization contain BS in their annual reports about "corporate social responsibility, anti slavery and anti bribery in selection of clients, workers rights, supporting developing countries, etc etc"

 

The two faced hypocrisy of the only interested in profit really big corporations who are happy to exploit workers in countries with corrupt favorable regimes.

[Deepinthailand]

6 hours ago, little mary sunshine said:

So from now on I will avoid buying Nike brand and shopping

at Wallmart.  Other brands to be boycotted if they oppose 

an increase for these poor workers.

As there is no Walmart here and I have never bought Nike does not really bother me

[little mary sunshine]

34 minutes ago, Deepinthailand said:

As there is no Walmart here and I have never bought Nike does not really bother me

Of course, I was referring to Walmart in The States,  where I spend 4 months

each year!

[Deepinthailand]

1 hour ago, little mary sunshine said:

Of course, I was referring to Walmart in The States,  where I spend 4 months

each year!

I was of course being sarcastic l. To tell you the truth I just ignore all these stories about minimum wage and mode day slavery. Nothing and I mean nothing anybody can do about it. Stop buying goods from certain companies what is that achieving absolutely nothing. They will if they have to move there buying power to another place with cheap labour. Thus putting the ones being dropped in a darker place with no money coming in at all. I would place a bet that there are not many companies not tapped onto the cheaper labour market. But the first world population likes to act all pure and outraged whilst still buying from other companies who have there snout in the trough. So no I don't stop using a company to register anything as they don't care. What do goverments do absolutely nothing zilch.  Hue and Cry for at least two days then climb back into bed with the same countries.

[Penefattore]

When garment manufacturers came to Cambodia minimum salary was just 50$.

In a few years it skyrocketed to 140 $ , putting manufacturers in dire straits as in competitor countries like Bangladesh salaries are much lower.

Manufacturers like Grand Twins , quoted at Phnom Penh stock market , plunged from IPO price of 10,000 riel to current quote of 2,700 .

How can greedy Unions ask a further increase to 180 $ ? That would bankrupt the whole sector and send all the workers back home unemployed.

[little mary sunshine]

1 hour ago, Penefattore said:

When garment manufacturers came to Cambodia minimum salary was just 50$.

In a few years it skyrocketed to 140 $ , putting manufacturers in dire straits as in competitor countries like Bangladesh salaries are much lower.

Manufacturers like Grand Twins , quoted at Phnom Penh stock market , plunged from IPO price of 10,000 riel to current quote of 2,700 .

How can greedy Unions ask a further increase to 180 $ ? That would bankrupt the whole sector and send all the workers back home unemployed.

You can't be serious!!  Let's see you live on $140 a month!  Hardly the

lap of luxury.  The same shirts the greedy manufactures pay 40cents to make

in wages sell for $65 in Macy's