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The rights of workers to form and join trade unions are a top priority for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Lower Mekong Initiative Women's Gender Equality and Empowerment Dialogue held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, July 13, 2012 as part of the ASEAN Regional Forum.



Addressing more than 150 representatives of government and civil society, Secretary Clinton said that governments have to modernize labour laws to respect workers’ rights and ensure that men and women have fair, safe working conditions and can earn a living wage.



“Fair labour standards can spur economic growth and widen the circle of prosperity,” she said, “governments will have to get serious about enforcement, cracking down on unscrupulous recruiters, criminal traffickers, and abusive employers.”



“The international community and international law recognize that workers everywhere, regardless of income or status, are entitled to certain universal rights, including the right to form and join a union and to bargain collectively. Child labor, forced labor, discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or other factors, should be universally prohibited,” she added.



According to The Phnom Penh Post, Clinton’s address followed a two-hour private meeting with Cambodian union and labour representatives.



“Trade-union rights in Cambodia was the dominant component of discussions,” said Dave Welsh, country director of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, who also attended the meeting. “The US delegation was clear that justice must be delivered for victims [of labour abuses].”



“We should not be in a race to the bottom. We should be in a race to see how we raise income, raise standards of living, and raise the sharing of prosperity,” said Clinton, “For this to happen, we will have to make sure that women have the opportunity to move from the informal economy to the formal economy with employment. We will have to make sure that migrant workers are respected and protected, that people in modern-day slavery are free and rehabilitated.”