Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Monday announced the start of the annual process for setting the monthly minimum wage for Cambodia’s garment sector, the country’s largest private-sector employer.
According to a statement posted to the minister’s Facebook page, the process will start next month with the government, employers and unions each coming up with a proposed raise, then proceeding to negotiations and—if necessary—ending in October when the tripartite Labor Advisory Committee takes a vote for the winning wage, which will take effect on January 1.
The sector’s minimum wage is currently $153.
The government established the monthslong process in 2014 after protests for higher wages turned violent and ended with police officers firing live rounds into a Phnom Penh crowd that was pelting them with rocks and petrol bombs.
The rounds killed at least five people.
Since 2014, the government-dominated advisory committee has approved a raise each year, settling on a figure between a lower raise favored by employers and a higher one favored by unions.