Phnom Penh: Unions and brand owners remain key players among stakeholders in monitoring responsible business conduct in accordance with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD) recommendations.
Today is the second roundtable bringing together enterprises (brands, manufacturers), trade unions, policymakers and other stakeholders across garment and footwear supply chains to examine the OECD's recommendation on meaningful engagement with workers and trade unions on labour right across the due diligence process.
Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said: “Brand owners and unions are very important in the garment industry relationship in Cambodia. In addition to orders, they also require their suppliers to adhere to the code of conduct. They are in compliance with the law, which includes the environment, respect for the rights in accordance with ILO labor standards, and unions are the ones who monitor and urge suppliers to comply with the law."
He added that "Promoting social dialogue or meaningful engagement is an important part of building trust between the brand owners and the unions".
The union side observes that the supplier side has not yet fulfilled its duty to comply with the OECD's recommendations, as workers' rights have been violated and pollution prevention is still poor. In this case Pav Sina mentioned that "For me, the supply side is not following the OECD guidelines,".
