Through grants to the Solidarity Center, USAID provided training to approximately 11,000 [Ready Made Garment] union leaders and members – more than half of whom were women – on collective bargaining, union leadership, industrial dispute resolution, media and organisational democracy, according to a news agency.

“The administration has lost a huge opportunity to advance human rights in its trade relationships,” said Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau.

At the end of June, nearly 350 workers fainted in garment factories across Cambodia, with more than 100 collapsing on one day alone, raising concerns about the health of workers in Cambodia’s textile industry. William Conklin, country program director at the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center in Cambodia, said clothing brands should take responsibility for their workers by providing food nutrition programs, food allowances and regular labor inspections. “Wages increases, with sufficient funding for meals during work time, are critically linked to how well workers can look after themselves,” he said