Workers’ Agency and Re-Working Power Relations in Cambodia's Garment Industry
Workers’ Agency and Re-Working Power Relations in Cambodia's Garment Industry
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柬埔寨制衣业的工人代理和权力关系重建
DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.2237494
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发表时间：
2013
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
A. Savanth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lakshmi Bhaskar;S. Bindu;A. Savanth
本文探讨了柬埔寨服装厂工人的集体声音和谈判生活工资的能力。通过对2010年9月由两个柬埔寨工会联合会领导的全国最低工资谈判大规模罢工的案例研究，审查了工人的代理权。分析集中在工人工资要求的四个结构性障碍上。首先，柬埔寨人民党（CPP）在2008年巩固了权力。因此，独立工会和民间社会的空间正在缩小。其次，柬埔寨在价格、质量和上市速度方面不被视为全球采购的“竞争力”。因此，相对于孟加拉国和越南，低工资和不受监控的电子工厂的扩散正日益成为该行业的竞争优势。第三，柬埔寨定期合同的扩散意味着工作不那么安全，随之而来的是对工人和工会谈判实力的影响。第四，工厂一级和全国性工会联合会的数量异常之多，使得“真正的”工会难以促进其成员的权利，工人的代理潜力被边缘化。这四种结构性力量的交叉限制了工人和独立工会重新调整与雇主协会柬埔寨服装制造商协会的权力关系的能力。尽管面临挑战，但工人和独立工会认识到自己是必须形成关键要求的代理人，包括工资要求。
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-a-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.