Cambodia to amend labor law to reduce nighttime pay for garment workers

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday his government is pushing ahead with a planned amendment of the labor law to reduce nighttime pay for garment factory workers, who are paid twice as much as those on the day shift.

He said the move is crucial for creating more jobs in an industry, a major hard-currency earner for the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

The country currently has 300 garment factories that employ 355,000 workers. But only about 10 of the factories run night shifts because the higher pay is a "disincentive," said Ken Loo, secretary-general of Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia.

He said lowering nighttime payment will not only create more jobs at the factories but will also increase peripheral economic activities for those operating transport and selling food to the workers at night.

"We've been pushing for this (amendment) for the last seven years, and it's only now that we are making some headway," Loo said. "With the industrialization of the country, we need to embrace the concept of shift."

Under the current law, wage for dayshift garment workers is about US$50 (€37) a month, but the amount is doubled to US$100 (€74) a month for those working at night.

The National Assembly, the country's lower house of parliament, will soon debate and mostly like pass the amendment requested by the government, Hun Sen said. The proposed amendment will allow for an increase of only 30 percent over the daytime payment, he said.

Last year's garment exports from Cambodia were worth about US$2.8 billion (€2 billion), with about 70 percent of the shipments going to retailers in U.S. market, Loo said.

Chea Mony, president of Cambodia's Free Trade Union which has claimed to have 74,000 members, on Tuesday threatened to call a strike against the amendment.

He criticized the government for kowtowing to the garment industry's demand and said the amendment will be disadvantageous for the workers.

"This government has claimed such a move would attract more investment. I do not see it will. Reducing workers' earning is not the factor for luring investors to Cambodia," he said.

The government should instead eradicate corruption, which is scaring investors away, he said.