Women Workers in Cambodias Garment Sector

Sukti Dasgupta ILO Bangkok

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADBs part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADBs terminology.

Women workers in the Garment sector have driven Cambodias high economic growth
(90% womens share of garment workers)

 and contributed to reducing household poverty. Women are the main income earners for their families in Cambodia, supporting 3-5 family members on average Having a daughter or a close relative working in the garment industry was a key factor in moving our of poverty (Neak and Samsen 2006) But there are still negative perceptions of women in garments (ADB 2004)

Growth came from exports: 80% of Cambodias export earnings are from garments
During the late 1990s, trade negotiations with the US resulted in generous annual quota increases to the US clothing sector
The provision for this was that Cambodia adhere to basic labour standards, monitored by Better Factories Cambodia
(set up in 2001)

In the highly competitive global market, Cambodia thus created for itself a niche market based on labour compliance But on a low-end product type: CMT

Monitoring labour compliance of exporting firms

Better Factories Cambodia:
Unannounced factory visits Meetings with management Unaccompanied tours and observation Collection of documents Interviews with workers / union representatives

BFC checklist based on labour code (endorsed by government and employers) Resulted in a largely formal Garment sector and unionisation Minimum wage (very recently raised to 80 USD, includes health allowance), take-home pay is often higher because of allowances and over-time, though working times are also long (~48-60 hours per week).

Several factors contributed to Garment Sector growth, and contributed to an alternative employment opportunity for women
Abundance of low-skilled, low-wage female labour (mainly rural migrants)
Favourable trade environment, not bound by quota restrictions on exports (agreement with the US):
- GMAC negotiating with the government in one voice - ILO / Better Factories Cambodia monitoring appealed to brands embracing ethical approaches

Opportunities in the Garment Sector contributed to faster increase in womens labour force participation:
Typically young migrants from poorer provinces Average age is 15-35 and unmarried About ~2/3 have completed primary education A stable opportunity outside of agriculture, giving women some financial independence

but contributed to greater vulnerabilities.

Impact of the Crisis

Women were affected more by the crisis:
About 70 factories closed and 70,000 jobs were lost Many more workers settled on lower pay because of less over-time and poorer working conditions

ILO/CIDS Tracking Study:

Also found that many families sent more young women to work as their incomes declined, producing an additional worker effect. Many of the original workers returned to work in late 2009 but on lower pay and different (shorter-term) contracts

By 2011, the sector returned to its pre-crisis levels of output and employment
EU-Cambodia trade negotiations in 2011 Everything but Arms assures an export market
Several challenges remain
Low productivity / value-added Foreign ownership Lack of domestic embedment Reliance on exports

But Gains made in working conditions through Better Factories

Cambodia monitoring have more or less withstood crisis pressures

need to move beyond the basics and address more systematic issues with worker welfare and social protection

Some final observations

Women dominate in factory-level union leadership but not at the federation level Alternative employment opportunities outside of agriculture are still underdeveloped Collective bargaining is still limited Issues with working conditions (e.g. mass fainting etc.) and child care facilities

Training both pre-employment and on-the-job

Social protection

Thank you
For more information, please contact: Sukti Dasgupta, Tel: 662 288 1792 E-mail: dasgutpa@ilo.org www.ilo.org/asia