"Minimum wage talks loom", 11 June 2020

Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Sam Heng has announced that internal negotiations for the 2021 minimum wage for workers in the textile, garment and footwear industries will begin next month.

According to a ministry announcement signed by Sam Heng …, union representatives, employers and government officials will convene meetings separately and deliberate on how to present their cases…

Unions, meanwhile, fear the negotiations could be tense as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to the global economy.

Sam Heng said the final decision on the minimum wage will be made at a council meeting in September and will go into effect on January 1, 2021.

“All parties will use official and legal data and technical research. Social characteristics [family situation, inflation rate and daily expenses] and economic evaluations [productivity, the competitiveness of the country, market situation, and profits of all sectors] will also play a large role,” he said.

… The minimum wage for this year was previously set to $190 per month.

Pav Sina, the president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, confirmed that the parties involved will start discussing the minimum wage separately next month.

He expects the unique threat posed by Covid-19 will lead to more contentious negotiations than in years past…

Kaing Monika, the deputy secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, told … that employers in the textile sectors throughout the world are in a difficult situation and are uncertain about the future of their industry…