On the same day that the Department of Labor went public with their new report, major chocolate and candy companies, who are members of the National Confectioners Association, congregated in Washington D.C in order to push their legislative agenda. Despite that 70% of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa, where child labor and slavery are rampant, little has been done by major chocolate corporations to end these abuses. Since 2001 ILRF has urged the chocolate industry to take responsibility for child labor in their chains of production, yet companies continue to purchase and reap profits from child exploitative cocoa.

On Monday
September 7, the owners of Benilda defiantly refused to set a date for a settlement on the dispute regarding back compensation. Workers were fed up and finally went on strike on the 10th, taking control of the company's facilities. Since then, workers have been taking turns monitoring over 40 hectares of farms. For more than 15 days, groups of workers have spent cold
nights in the open savanna, while also going to neighboring
municipalities to receive support. They have dealt with aggressive attitudes from various police commanders.

The ILO mission was triggered by a complaint the KMU brought before the ILO’s Committee on the Freedom of Association in 2006.  In the complaint, KMU alleged, “Killings, grave threats, continuous harassment and intimidation and other forms of violence inflicted on leaders, members, organizers, union supporters/labor advocates of trade unions and informal workers' organizations who actively pursue their legitimate demands at the local and national levels.”  Specifically, KMU mentioned the deaths of 64 trade unionist and advocates since Arroyo took power in 2001.  ILRF has also been calling for a high level mission for some time now.  You can see more of the history

Despite these gains, Mr. Moeun made clear that Cambodia still has much to accomplish and without urgent action could actually regress.  In his testimony, Mr. Moeun described the continued repression of unions by pointing out events like the murder of Cambodia’s best know union leader Chea Vichea.  (You can learn more about Chea Vichea’s story in the Freedom at Work Toolkit that ILRF just launched on Labor Day.)  Additionally, Mr. Moeun commented that wages continue to be inadequate.  Even though the 1997 labor law requires the creation of minimum wage, the Cambodian Government has failed to enact one making it very difficult for people to live at a decent level.