Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) renewed its association with the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday.
The MoU signed between Heng Sour, Minister of Labour and Vocational Training and William Conklin, Country Director of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) aims to promote industrial harmonization in the country and also the occupational safety and health (OSH) of workers, said an official release.
Sour said that the signing of the MoU will be an important basis for further strengthening industrial relations and occupational safety in factories in Cambodia, which is key to attracting more investment to the country.
The minister further noted that the MoU not only exemplifies the trust and confidence between the two institutions but also acts as a factor promoting a better and closer relationship between Cambodia and the US.
The minister also reminded about the Strategic Plan for the Employment Development, Social Security and Vocational Training 2024-2028 launched by Cambodia early this year which covers key strategies, priority programmes, clusters of activities and work activities that MLVT and organisations attached to it are planning to implement during the five-year period.
William Conklin, Country Director of ACILS, praised the work of the Royal Government of Cambodia through MLVT to improve industrial harmony in the country, especially its role in the protection of workers and the people as a whole in the wake of Covid-19.
Conklin also expressed his firm belief that the MoU signed by the two sides for the third time will continue to be successful as the first and second since 2018.
Solidarity Center works with Cambodian unions and other allies to protect and advance workers’ rights through training and support, including legal advocacy, to help workers stand up for their rights and demand living wages and decent working conditions.
This includes supporting unions to grow and strengthen through the development of organizing, collective bargaining and advocacy strategies, and to tackle injustices and promote equality and inclusion through specific programmes that focus on access to social protection, migrant worker rights and addressing gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work.
The Solidarity Center is also the largest US-based international worker rights organization helping workers attain safe and healthy workplaces, family-supporting wages, dignity on the job, widespread democracy and greater equity at work and in their community.
Allied with the AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Center assists workers across the globe as, together, they fight discrimination, exploitation and the systems that entrench poverty—to achieve shared prosperity in the global economy.
According to its website, the Solidarity Center acts on the fundamental principle that working people can, by exercising their right to freedom of association and forming trade unions and democratic worker rights organizations, collectively improve their jobs and workplaces, call on their governments to uphold laws and protect human rights, and be a force for democracy, social justice and inclusive economic development.
