Workers Rights in Cambodia

In May of 2003, the Workers Rights Program was requested by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) to join a research team that investigated the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) factory monitoring program in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The primary goal of the investigation was to assess the ILO program and its monitoring methodologies. The Workers Rights Program’s work in Cambodia complements our participation in the Fair Labor Association, and will also inform our work on improving monitoring processes worldwide through our Workers Rights Information Project. The final report on the Cambodia investigation will be released shortly by the WRC.

The ILO’s Cambodia monitoring project was born out of a U.S.-Cambodia trade agreement signed in 1999, and renewed at the end of 2001. The agreement created trade based incentives for the Cambodian garment industry to be in “substantial compliance” with international labor standards and the Cambodian labor code. The ILO acts as an independent, external monitor of the factories. The information generated by its inspections is made public on the ILO website, and used by the U.S. government to help determine if the industry is in substantial compliance with the relevant labor standards. If such a determination is made, extra quota is granted to Cambodia, enabling it to export more garments to the U.S.

Human Rights First has long advocated linkage between trade and labor standards. Click here to see previous Human Rights First action on the U.S.-Cambodia Trade Agreement.