PHNOM PENH -- Negotiations on raising the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of workers in Cambodia's vital garment sector were set to begin in the capital Friday.
The meeting of the 28-member Labour Advisory Committee -- comprising union leaders, manufacturers, and members of the Ministry of Labour -- will consider increasing the minimum wage by at least US$30 a month.
The minimum wage is currently set at $128 a month and unions are divided over whether to ask for a raise of $158, $166 or $178.
Three groups will each be submitting their own proposal, according to the Cambodia Daily newspaper.
A wage rise would impact some 700,000 garment workers, the majority of whom are women, according to Better Factories Cambodia, a programme of the International Labour Organisation that overseas manufacturers.
Worth over $5 billion, the garment sector is Cambodia's largest legal industry, accounting for some 80% of its exports. It is also the only sector in Cambodia with a minimum wage.
A number of international brands source from Cambodian factories, including Adidas, Puma, Armani, H&M, and Gap.
Cambodia's last minimum wage rise was approved in November, with the Ministry of Labour raising the floor from $100 to $128.
Unions rule garment sector
While the majority of Cambodian workers are not unioniSed, the garment sector is one notable exception.
Garment workers hold banners at the Freedom Park during an October protest calling on the government for higher wages. Garment workers are highly unionised, with the organisations again pushing for higher wages. (Reuters photo)
More than 60% of garment workers belonged to a union in 2013, according to a survey by Cambodian lawfirm BNG Legal. Most of these union members, and many leaders, are women, as they make up the bulk of garment workers.
About 2,700 out of an estimated 3,000 unions in Cambodia represent garment workers, according to the Cambodia Federation of Employers and Business Associations, the Phnom Penh Post reported, although there are no reliable figures for the exact numbers.
Most unions are aligned with larger labour organisations, which in turn maintain ties with one of Cambodia's two major political parties: the ruling Cambodian People's Party or the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party.
Disagreements between unions -- such as, in the latest example, what minimum wage to push for -- typically fall along party lines.
Unions helped to bring about the first minimum wage for garment workers in 1997, at $40 a month. Since then it has risen to $128 dollars, which came into force in January 2015.