Leading fashion firms call on Cambodian government to improve labour standards

Leading fashion companies including Nike, PVH, Levi Strauss, Esprit,
Adidas and Under Armour have signed an open letter to the Cambodian
government urging it to improve its labour standards.

The companies, who claim to contribute 9.5 billion US dollars (7.26
billion pounds) to Cambodia’s exports through their work with the country’s
suppliers, said they are “concerned that the labour and human rights
situation in Cambodia is posing a risk to trade preferences for
Cambodia.”

The companies said that when the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) was being
phased out, they were concerned that Cambodia’s garment sector would not
survive, but kept buying from the country largely based on its government’s
“strong commitment to higher labour standards that were embodied in [its]
implementation of the ILO Better Factories Cambodia (BFC)
program.”

Fashion firms concerned about labour and human rights in Cambodia

Cambodia’s strong support for the BFC and its implementation of “strong
labour standards” has enabled its garment, footwear and travel goods
sectors to grow exponentially, the letter says, with those categories now
accounting for more than one third (43 percent) of the country’s total gross
domestic product (GDP).

But the letter said that recently both the European
Union and the United States have had to re-examine the country as a trading
partner “based on the declining respect for labour standards, including
freedom of association, and other issues related to respect for human
rights issues in Cambodia.”

The companies said that a similar letter had already been sent in
November offering recommendations as to how the Cambodian government could
“demonstrate real progress toward respecting trade unions and civil
society,” but had not received a reply. “We look forward to hearing back
from you and working with you to ensure a bright future for Cambodia’s
workers and the Cambodian economy overall,” the letter ends.