GENEVA (ILO News) - The International Labour Office (ILO) published a mixed report * today on working conditions in Cambodian garment factories where monitors found no evidence of forced labour or discrimination but uncovered problems involving sexual harassment, freedom of association and the payment of wages and overtime hours.
The Second Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector contains an overview of the monitoring of 34 factories under a technical cooperation project, which was setup following an agreement signed in January 1999 by the governments of Cambodia and the United States and amended on 31 December 2001.
The First Synthesis Report by ILO monitors released in November 2001 produced similar "good news and bad news" on working conditions in the initial 30 factories investigated. Key findings in the latest report indicated:
- There is no evidence of forced labour.
- There is no evidence of discrimination, although sexual harassment had been reported in three factories.
- There is no evidence of child labour with the exception of one minor instance.
- Incorrect payment of wages occurs frequently.
- Over-time work is not, or not always, undertaken voluntarily at a substantial number of factories.
- Over-time hours are extended - either occasionally or frequently - beyond the legal limits in a substantial number of factories.
- Freedom of association, including anti-union discrimination, is a problem in some factories.
- Strikes are not organized in conformity with legally required procedures.
"It is important to underline that the monitoring of factories is not an objective in itself but part of a process aimed at improving working conditions in Cambodia's garment sector as a whole," the report said. "The cooperation of all factories with the project was satisfactory - except for one factory."
The 34 factories covered in the second report employed 30,207 workers of whom 26,044 were female and 4,163 male. The factories monitored did not include any of the 30 factories covered in the first report; information on the progress made in implementing the project's suggestions for these factories will be published in May/June, the ILO report said.
The latest three-year Trade Agreement on Textile and Apparel offers a possible 18 percent annual increase in Cambodia's export entitlements to the United States, provided the government of Cambodia supports:
"The implementation of a programme to improve working conditions in the textile and apparel sector, including internationally-recognized core labour standards, through the application of Cambodian labour law."
The Project Advisory Committee (PAC) - comprising representatives from the Cambodian government, Garment Manufacturers' Association and trade unions - endorsed the second report and said it was pleased that forced labour and discrimination, with the exception of a limited number of cases of sexual harassment, were not matters of concern in the factories surveyed.
The PAC noted "with satisfaction" that, "with the exception of one minor incident, there was no evidence of child labour", but acknowledged "with concern" the violation of trade union rights in a number of factories.
"We note that the Second Synthesis Report confirms that certain areas, including those pertaining to wages and overtime work, require the intensified attention of all parties involved," a PAC statement said.
"All members of PAC restate their full commitment to the continuation of the ILO monitoring project and, again, pledge their full cooperation to the ILO in this regard...We trust that the positive partnership being built in the Cambodian garment industry will continue to receive the support of all concerned and will lead to the further improvement of working conditions in Cambodia's textile and apparel sector," the statement concluded.
* " Second Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector" and the PAC statement. For further information, contact: Michael Keats, ILO Department of Communication, Geneva: Tel.: +4122/799-6690, e-mail: keats@ilo.org.