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Workers’ agency and re-working power relations in Cambodia’s garment industry

Author

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  • Dennis Arnold
Abstract
This paper explores Cambodian garment factory workers’ collective voice and ability to negotiate a living wage. Workers’ agency is examined through a case study of a large-scale strike in September 2010 over national minimum wage negotiations, led by two Cambodian trade union federations. Analysis is centred on four structural impediments to workers’ wage demands. First, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) consolidated power in 2008. As a result, space for independent trade unions and civil society is decreasing. Second, Cambodia is not deemed ‘competitive’ as a global sourcing option in terms of price, quality and speed to market. As a result, low wages and a proliferation of unmonitored subcontract factories are increasingly becoming the industry’s competitive advantage vis-à-vis Bangladesh and Vietnam. Third, the proliferation of fixed-duration contracts in Cambodia means work is less secure, with attendant impacts on workers and unions’ negotiating strength. And fourth, the unusually high number of plant-level and national trade union federations makes it difficult for ‘genuine’ unions to promote the rights of their members, and workers’ agency potential is marginalized. The intersection of these four structural forces circumscribes workers and independent trade unions’ ability to rework power relations with the employers association, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC). Despite the challenges, workers and independent unions recognize themselves as the agents who must shape key demands, including on wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis Arnold, 2013. "Workers’ agency and re-working power relations in Cambodia’s garment industry," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series ctg-2013-24, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:ctg-2013-24
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    File URL: http://www.capturingthegains.org/pdf/ctg-wp-2013-24.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cornelia Staritz, 2011. "Making the Cut? Low-Income Countries and the Global Clothing Value Chain in a Post-Quota and Post-Crisis World," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2547.
    2. Yamagata, Tatsufumi, 2006. "The Garment Industry in Cambodia: Its Role in Poverty Reduction through Export-Oriented Development," IDE Discussion Papers 62, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    3. Andy Cumbers & Corinne Nativel & Paul Routledge, 2008. "Labour agency and union positionalities in global production networks," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 369-387, May.
    4. Neil M. Coe & Peter Dicken & Martin Hess, 2008. "Global production networks: realizing the potential," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 271-295, May.
    5. Ben Selwyn, 2012. "Beyond firm-centrism: re-integrating labour and capitalism into global commodity chain analysis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 205-226, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gansemans, A. & D'Haese, M., 2018. "Flying under the radar: The impact of plantation workers job insecurity on perceived labour agency," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277742, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Laurie Parsons & Sabina Lawreniuk & John Pilgrim, 2014. "Wheels within Wheels: Poverty, Power and Patronage in the Cambodian Migration System," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1362-1379, November.

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