"Unions appeal for minimum wage talks to proceed as scheduled", 25 June 2020

Garment factory unions and workers have called on the government to adhere to its schedule to negotiate a minimum wage increase for workers this year after the garment industry’s representative group released a statement calling for annual wage negotiations to be delayed.

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) issued a statement June 23 calling for minimum wage negotiations, set to take place from July to September, to be delayed until 2021... “GMAC strongly hopes that the new minimum wage negotiations for 2021 will be temporarily suspended until the situation in the sector is restored,” the statement said. “Delaying the minimum wage negotiations will be a mechanism to support the sector to stay alive as well as maintain employment for workers.”...

Ath Thorn, president of Cambodian Labor Confederation (CLC), said there is no reason that wage discussions should be postponed, since the new minimum wage would not implemented this year... “Normally, the employers’ party does not want to increase workers’ minimum wage, and they always make excuses saying that they do not make much profit and that the workers already have a high enough salary. Now, they’re claiming they can’t raise wages because of Covid-19,”...

President of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Union, Yang Sophorn also called for the meetings to go on, saying that major clothing retailers such as Adidas and H&M had recently said they would place new orders for products from Cambodia...