labor
Workers mostly stay in their rented rooms during a self-isolation period, coming out occasionally to buy food, at a block of dorms where garment workers live in Phnom Penh’s Choam Chao commune on April 22, 2020. (Danielle Keeton-Olsen/VOD)

Workers Isolate in Dorms After Stay-at-Home Order

Workers who were told to isolate at home as a Covid-19 precaution said they would accept orders to take time off. But with more garment factories suspending production due to reduced orders, some workers worry their leave will be extended indefinitely.

Garment workers in a factory in Cambodia on December 9, 2014 (ILO)

Garment Workers Cornered by Job Loss, Virus Fears and Looming Debt

For indebted garment workers who have been suspended from work due to coronavirus disruptions, money owed to microfinance institutions is a more immediate threat than Covid-19, leading some to consider selling assets before they’re repossessed.

Prime Minister Hun Sen discusses the nation’s response to Covid-19 at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, in a photograph posted to his Facebook page on April 7, 2020.

Promised Pay for Suspended Garment Workers Reduced, New Year Postponed

Prime Minister Hun Sen said garment workers who are suspended due to Covid-19 disruptions would receive an even smaller partial salary than he originally announced, while also postponing the Khmer New Year holiday and claiming that the “safest place” amid the pandemic was at work.

Workers at Canteran Apparel (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. protest over unpaid wages at the Phnom Penh factory on March 25, 2020. (Supplied)

Garment Workers Strike Over Unpaid Wages Amid Virus Pandemic

Nearly 1,000 garment workers protested outside a Phnom Penh factory on Wednesday after the owner failed to pay their regular wages, which the company said was due to declining payments from buyers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.