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NEWSLETTER 24, Oct 2007 "We are not machines; but they want us to be"

Kong Athit & Phereak LY at the G8 summit in Germany

Athit Kong, vice president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) and Phereak Ly of the women's rights NGO, Womyn's Agenda for Change (WAC), recently in Europe to take part in a CCC speaker tour, spoke about the problems facing workers in the Cambodian garment industry, struggling to maintain their rights to decent work in the context of intense global competition.

How long have you worked for your organisation and how did you get involved?

AK: I joined C.CAWDU in 1999 when working as a washer at the Tack Fat factory and became active in the union the following year. The factory didn't like that, and the managers kept moving me to different sections and I was demoted. At the end of 2001, I was sacked as a result of my union organising. Even then I stayed with the union and was elected their general secretary in 2002. After four years as C.CAWDU general secretary, I was elected the union's vice president and also general secretary of the Cambodian Labour Federation.

PL: I started as an organiser for WAC in 2003, when I was still working at a garment factory producing for Gap. During this time I talked to other women workers about what WAC was doing and about their rights, and encouraged them to speak out about their problems. After I had worked in the industry for eight years, my factory closed, following the phase out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement in 2005. From then on, I worked as an intern with WAC until I was taken on as a staff member for the Garment Workers' Empowerment project.

What do you see as the main problems facing Cambodian garment workers right now?

AK: One of the biggest problems is with temporary contracts. These have been put in place by companies in order to exploit workers and put pressure on the union struggle in Cambodia. Before, workers would be on permanent contracts but now lots are employed on one to three month contracts, even if they have worked at the same factory for over two years. If workers are on temporary contracts, it's really hard to form a union. They will be immediately fired or just not get their contracts renewed.

PL: It also means workers are under a lot of pressure. If you refuse overtime or take sick leave, if you don't meet your targets all the time, or try to speak out about your problems, they say you are "not a good worker" and won't renew your contract.

AK: The other big problems are the wages and working hours. Garment workers do long hours, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day and the wages are too low. Right now the minimum wage in Cambodia is (US)$50 per month. In the city it's impossible for workers to live on this, and most are expected to send money back to their families each month. This means they need to work two to four hours' overtime each day just in order to live.

PL: Even if you don't want to do overtime, you have to. If we refuse, they punish us and stop us from being able to do overtime in the future. The salary is very low; we can't survive on it and so we need overtime. But we want to be able to choose when to do it. We work hard and need to rest or take time off if we are sick. We are not machines; but they want us to be.
They only want us to work for them and not have any other life.

AK: Lots of workers want to speak out to change these conditions, but it's hard. If you join a trade union you will never be promoted, you will never get a higher wage, you won't get your contract renewed, or you might be fired. An example of this is the River Rich factory (see page 17).

Have things got worse since the end of 2005?

PL: There is a lot less security for workers. Lots of factories closed, like the factory I was working for. And most workers never received any compensation or redundancy money. Often we were just told to take a month off and, when we came back, the factory had gone. The brands never did anything to make sure workers got the money they were legally owed.

The ILO set up the Better Factories programme to help Cambodia develop a comparative advantage on labour rights. What difference did this make to workers in Cambodia?

AK: It meant that unions got some training and some small improvements were made at factories. It was a good programme but there are still many problems, particularly in organising unions.

What about the Cambodian Government - are they doing anything to protect the rights of workers?

PL: The Government says they are trying to create job opportunities for people and, in order to keep these jobs, we have to keep investors happy.

How are your organisations working to improve conditions?

AK: C.CAWDU tries to organise workers and negotiate and support them to improve conditions. We aim to represent garment workers with one voice. We also do research on working conditions and the economic and social context, and support women workers to become political and socio-economic leaders. We build international relationships to strengthen the defence of workers' rights. Also we lobby the government to protect workers' rights, to improve relationships between unions, and to uphold democratic decision-making.

PL: Most of our work with garment workers is focused on our six drop-in centres, where women can come and get information and talk about their problems with others. These are places where WAC can build trust between workers, listen to their problems, and collect case studies and labels as a part of our research into the Cambodian garment industry. We also talk to the women workers about the global context of the industry and do research into topics such as the MFA phase-out and health issues.

How can consumers and activists help support Cambodian workers?

AK: They need to inform people here in Europe about the real situation facing workers and the trade union movement in Cambodia. The ITGLWF and Clean Clothes Campaign have been supporting us, but it's hard because the companies really hate trade unions. We know that the relationship between consumer and brand name is powerful; if consumers say something to the brand, it can be really effective. A thousand letters about a case or a company can really help to improve conditions for workers.