People’s Tribunal in Cambodia

From the 5th to the 6th of February a People’s Tribunal on the Minimum Living Wage and Decent Working Conditions as a Fundamental Human Right took place in Phnom Pen, Cambodia.

The judges recommended brands to “move beyond “good intensions” and recognise and prioritise the need for human rights in the workplace in the pricing and procurement policies” which would deliver a “mandatory living wage”.

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance states, that the tribunal has heard serious evidence demonstrating the impact of poverty wages on the lives of garment workers, not only in Cambodia, but also generally across Asia.

In Cambodia, due to the inflation, the real value of wage for garment workers has fallen by over 14 percent since the year 2000. This is even though wages have increased by 5 $ in 2010 – as a result of the big strike of garment workers.

Stark evidence showed that low wages can directly lead to a dangerously low calorific intake. As a consequence of this malnutrition, we have seen mass fainting incidents in the last year. Other important facts brought to light include the dire effects of such short term contract work and low wages on family life and living conditions as well as perpetuating long working hours. 200 workers offered concrete evidence of the impact of poverty wages- their stories should be a call for action for the international garment industry.

So far the international brand response was inadequate. Despite the fact that three of the four testimonies centred on violations happening at H&M suppliers, H&M failed to attend to and to account for the evidence brought against them by victims of human rights abuses. Gap also decided not to attend. This was disappointing.

Although AFW appreciates the efforts made by adidas and Puma to publicly present their perspective, AFW demands that much more needs to be done by brands to tackle the endemic problems caused by poverty wages in the garment industry globally. Much talk was made of addressing the consequences of low wage, such as malnutrition, long working hours, slum living conditions, lack of family life etc. Yet brand responses did not go far enough in suggesting solutions showing concrete steps in addressing the source of the problem – that workers need to be paid more and that this cost has to be paid by somebody.

Mounting evidence produced by this tribunal, and the tribunal held in Sri Lanka last year, indicates that an international collaborative effort is necessary to address the clear human rights violations raised. Unions, brands, manufacturers, multi-stakeholder initiatives, workers’ rights organisations and governments must work together to address the need for a living wage for Asian garment workers.