Clean Clothes Campaign advocating minimum wage standard in Cambodia

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), is advocating a minimum wage rise in Cambodia, targeting the world’s large fashion brands such as H&M, Inditex, Levi’s and Gap.

Representing a coalition of Cambodian unions, the campaign is fighting for a minimum wage of US$177 for 700,000 garment workers in Cambodia.

It has experienced a setback when the Labour Advisory Council (LAC) approved a new minimum wage of US$140 in October last year — which the CCC deems to be unsatisfactory and an inadequate living wage considering the huge profits raked in by multinational brands — to be effective January this year.

Said the CCC in a press release: “This insufficient US$12 wage increase is a slap in the face to workers who have been organising for over a year to demand a fair minimum wage of US$177.

“Some brands, such as H&M and Adidas, have made public statements that they support a living wage for workers in their supply chains. However, these assertions ring hollow to workers who often work excessive overtime and still cannot provide for the basic needs of themselves and their families.”

Athit Kong, vice-president of C.CAWDU, an independent union in Cambodia, agreed. Kong said: “After years of campaigning, it is clear that the only way Cambodian workers will get a decent wage they can live on is collective bargaining between brands, as the principle employers, and the garment unions.

“A minimum wage of US$140, as it is set now, is like throwing bread crumbs at your poverished workers. To simply survive, we need US$177 as a very first basic step,” added Kong.

The CCC has also expanded international awareness and outreach of its campaign outside of Cambodia to the rest of Asia, the US and Europe. Workers and campaigners from around the world showed their support to the Cambodian workers on International Human Rights Day last year, which is observed every year on December 10. Thousands of workers in Cambodia took to three provinces wearing stickers that read: “We need a living wage!”