Document Abstract
Published:
1 Feb 2008
Business - as usual? governing the supply chain in clothing post MFA phase out
Have the working conditions in Cambodian garment sector improved?
This working paper seeks to critically assess the operation of ‘Better Factories Cambodia’, a International Labour Organisation monitoring project. It outlines the structure of the Cambodian garment industry in the context of trade agreements and examines in detail the relationship between the findings of the ILO Better Factories Cambodia’s monitoring and the awards of quota
The paper notes that though the Cambodian apparel sector is faring better than expected following the expiry of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing in 2004, this may not be due to the industry’s sophisticated monitoring system. Rather, it may be due to the low propensity of Cambodian garment manufacturers to improve on the key issues of low wages and excessive working hours, and the delayed emergence until 2008 of a quota restrained China as an alternative supply base.
Key conclusions include:
The paper notes that though the Cambodian apparel sector is faring better than expected following the expiry of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing in 2004, this may not be due to the industry’s sophisticated monitoring system. Rather, it may be due to the low propensity of Cambodian garment manufacturers to improve on the key issues of low wages and excessive working hours, and the delayed emergence until 2008 of a quota restrained China as an alternative supply base.
Key conclusions include:
- in a number of key respects, the garment sector in Cambodia still remains essentially no different from the industry in other parts of the world: factory owners continue to mount dogged resistance to the establishment of collective bargaining in the workplace and demand excessive overtime from their workers for less than a living wage
- there is a need for carefully designed programmes combining trade opportunities (with incentives for compliance with labour rights or penalties for non-compliance) and targeted technical assistance.
- these might carry greater promise for sustainable industrial relations if and when the multinational buyers are fully integrated into the process, thus confronting buyers with the impact their buying practices have on workers’ capacity to make real headway on wages and working hours
- focusing on buying practices would also lend greater transparency to decisions by multinational brand-owners and retailers to withdraw from or maintain their business as usual in Cambodia. This is most certainly the commitment the Cambodian people will be seeking post-2008
