Yon Sineat | Publication date 10 April 2018 | 17:47 ICT
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Government, employer and union representatives attend a consultation meeting on the draft universal minimum wage law in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Pha Lina
A recent draft of the universal minimum wage law handed to unions and employers on Tuesday saw the removal of controversial clauses written into earlier versions of the law that penalised individuals for protesting or pressuring the wage determination process.
The draft law looks to bring other labour sectors under the minimum wage umbrella, which is currently reserved only for garment and footwear workers. However, the draft has been met with criticism for potentially stifling unions’ rights to assembly and association.
Articles 25 and 26, for instance, imposed fines on anyone putting “obstacles” or “illegal pressure” on the wage determination process and for protesting the determined wage, respectively. The two articles were missing from the latest draft of the law, released on Tuesday.
Unions and labour rights groups, who had raised concerns over the clauses, welcomed the removal of the two clauses, which they maintained infringed on workers' right to assembly.
“There are some positive improvements in the latest draft that reflect trade unions’ concerns on critical articles relating to administrative actions and penalties, with Articles 25 and 26 now being abolished,” said Khun Tharo, senior program officer at the labour rights group Solidarity Center.
The meeting on Tuesday was held despite Labour Minister Ith Samheng saying in January that all parties had agreed to a final draft, which was expected to be forwarded to the Council of Ministers for further consideration.
Late last year, the Labour Ministry also scrapped another contentious article that would have forbidden any independent research into the annual wage negotiation process without prior approval from the ministry.
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