Levi Strauss cuts orders from Cambodian suppliers
Fashion brand Levi Strauss & Co. has slashed orders from Cambodian factories amid the political unrest in the country, after a nationwide strike by garment workers to demand higher wages was quelled with a violent crackdown, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The denim maker, along with a handful of US and European brands including Gap and Hennes & Mauritz, attended a meeting with government officials on May 26 to discuss a new wage-setting mechanism.
“Levi Strauss & Co. supports the Cambodian government establishing a methodologically sound and inclusive process for determining the minimum wage to ensure stability in the industry,” Levi spokeswoman Amber McCasland said. This “should lead to the announcement of a new minimum wage as soon as possible.”
The company cut back its Cambodia sourcing to minimise supply-chain risk and ensure delivery, McCasland said.
The wages and working conditions of garment workers have come under closer scrutiny following the 2013 collapse of a building in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 people.
For Cambodia, the unrest has raised concerns about the Southeast Asian country’s economy, which depends on garment manufacturing as a main source of employment and exports.
The strike started on December 24, as a protest against the government’s offer to raise the industry’s minimum wage by 19 per cent to $95 a month, short of union demands for $160 a month. The government then offered to raise the wage to $100, but workers spurned that offer as well. The protests ended in January after police opened fire on labor demonstrators, killing at least four people and injuring dozens more.
Representatives from Levi, Gap, H&M and the IndustriALL Global Union met with government officials in Phnom Penh on May 26, according to the brands and the union. IndustriALL said Inditex and Puma were also at the meetings.
Fashion brand Levi Strauss & Co. has slashed orders from Cambodian factories amid the political unrest in the country, after a nationwide strike by garment workers to demand higher wages was quelled with a violent crackdown, The Wall Street Journal reported. The denim maker, along with a handful of US and European brands including Gap and Hennes & Mauritz, attended a meeting with government officials on May 26 to discuss a new wage-setting mechanism. "Levi Strauss & Co. supports the Cambodian government establishing a methodologically sound and inclusive process for determining the minimum wage to ensure stability in the industry,"...
Fashion brand Levi Strauss & Co. has slashed orders from Cambodian factories amid the political unrest in the country, after a nationwide strike by garment workers to demand higher wages was quelled with a violent crackdown, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The denim maker, along with a handful of US and European brands including Gap and Hennes & Mauritz, attended a meeting with government officials on May 26 to discuss a new wage-setting mechanism.
“Levi Strauss & Co. supports the Cambodian government establishing a methodologically sound and inclusive process for determining the minimum wage to ensure stability in the industry,” Levi spokeswoman Amber McCasland said. This “should lead to the announcement of a new minimum wage as soon as possible.”
The company cut back its Cambodia sourcing to minimise supply-chain risk and ensure delivery, McCasland said.
The wages and working conditions of garment workers have come under closer scrutiny following the 2013 collapse of a building in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 people.
For Cambodia, the unrest has raised concerns about the Southeast Asian country’s economy, which depends on garment manufacturing as a main source of employment and exports.
The strike started on December 24, as a protest against the government’s offer to raise the industry’s minimum wage by 19 per cent to $95 a month, short of union demands for $160 a month. The government then offered to raise the wage to $100, but workers spurned that offer as well. The protests ended in January after police opened fire on labor demonstrators, killing at least four people and injuring dozens more.
Representatives from Levi, Gap, H&M and the IndustriALL Global Union met with government officials in Phnom Penh on May 26, according to the brands and the union. IndustriALL said Inditex and Puma were also at the meetings.
