Facts
Facts taken from social scientists, research reports, university
theses, annual government surveys, medical practitioners and press
reports.
In Memoriam
The women who have died at work serving beer were real people and
should be remembered.
Brands?
Find out if your favorite beer is being sold by 'beergirls' in
Cambodia.
Ways to help
Easy ways to contribute to change. Includes press releases.
Archives
Recent and previous developments are detailed in our archives
YOU CAN SUPPORT THE HIV/AIDS PREVENTION WORK IN
CAMBODIA! Visit the SiRCHESI website
Website checked 13/08/08
Some of the world's largest beer companies exploit
Cambodian women to sell their products, and may deny these women basic
labour and human rights, (refusing to recognise them as employees).
When AIDS, alcohol and other work place dangers prove fatal, these
'throwaway beer girls' are replaced with young recruits.
Ethicalbeer.com monitors the sales practices and health, safety and
welfare policies of major globalized beer companies doing business in
Cambodia. For additional facts, background information and action
strategies, why not consult our sister site www.fairtradebeer.com
or visit www.beergirls.org,
a site providing a voice to the women at risk in Cambodia.
AB-INBEV, CARLSBERG, HEINEKEN AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL BREWERS ARE YET AGAIN IN 2008-9
BEHAVING BADLY TO WOMEN BEER SELLERS IN CAMBODIA”, written by Ian
Lubek with the help of SiRCHESI NGO and many international colleagues -
read the full report here. (PDF-file; 0,5Mb) & as summarised pressrelease (PDF, 0,25 Mb)
Beer Selling Industry Cambodia (BSIC), of which Heineken, Carlsberg,
Guinness, Tiger Beer, etc.,are members, hired Cambodian research
organization CAS to evaluate progress made since Jan. 2008
(unpublished, CAS "Baseline" AUDIT), and to document adherence to 7
principles in their Code of Conduct (Oct. 2006). The CAS study
focusses on those 7 items, without addressing some of the
additional concerns raised by SiRCHESI, SOMO (2007, 2009) and
shareholders representatives from VBDO, addressed at Heineken AGMs
since 2007. (e.g., Living wages, free (HAART) anti-retrovirals for HIV+
employees). Within the 7 questions covered, there is direct
confirmation of some SiRCHESI results-- e.g., basic Heineken salary
still averages $69.00 when SiRCHESI data shows women need $141 to feed
their families. There is some praise in the CAS (and SiRCHESI) reports
for areas of progress, such as uniforms. But the CAS also admonishes
the beer companies to do more about nightly drinking by 73% of beer
sellers who still, in 2009, reported that they sit and drink with
customers, against BSIC's Code of Conduct (SiRCHESI data showed
more than 90%). As with SiRCHESI's recently released reports (Press release 2009, and Backup information 2009), CAS
highlighted many problems of employees' contracts -- transparency,
compliance with Cambodian Labour Code, and confusion about
benefits, rights and the pay structures and amounts due to them. Some
data reported in the CAS study are in sharp contradiction with
independent SiRCHESI findings, and require further discussion and
methodological analyses For example, a conservatively worded
question about workplace drinking produces a CAS finding of 0.71 litres
being drunk on the last shift by 105 BSIC saleswomen, or 3
glasses of beer or standard drinks. This amount in itself requires
comment: it is 3 times the amount suggested by the US website (0.25
litres=1 glass) for American women--30% greater in height, weight and
BMI than Khmer women-- www.enjoyheinekenresponsibly.com; at the new
Heineken Cambodia site, Cambodian women are told that 1-2 drinks are
advised as a limit (0.25- 0.50 litres), less than the BSIC sellers are
currently drinking-- in fact the SiRCHESI data for 2008 suggested that
mean alcohol drunk per shift by BSIC brands was 1.48 litres nightly or
6 standard drinks, N=103).
Find
out about the work SiRCHESI is doing - read the
2008 newletter
Dear
Friends
Your
support is urgently needed by SiRCHESI -- Siem Reap Citizens for
Health, Educational and Social Issues-- as its staff confronts the
HIV/AIDS pandemic and other severe health challenges ravaging their
Cambodian community.
In
Siem Reap, there are an estimated 7-10,000 persons living with
HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), and women are increasingly at risk. Only a few
hundred people currently are receiving life-prolonging anti-retroviral
therapy (ARVT). Please support our health promotion efforts with a
small (or large!!) donation.
1 July 08
Three articles by SØREN KRAGBALLE appear in the Danish press
i) NGO: Bryggerier betaler sulteløn til deres ølpiger
(pdf 12kb);
ii)Carlsbergs ølpiger bliver fortsat groft chikaneret
(pdf 15kb);
iii) Carlsbergchef: Ikke godt nok
(pdf 14kb)
April 08 International
brewers still behaving badly in Cambodia. Latest research findings suggest Heineken and other
brands,
despite statements to media and shareholders, have not made significant
progress in 2007 to reduce high risks to their women beer-sellers in
Cambodia. Demands for
paying a "living wage", provide free HAART for HIV+ beersellers,
improve health education before employment, provide contracts
transparently, and end all workplace drinking (for starters) remain
unchanged.
Please read the recent
pressrelease (RTF- 28k)
The struggle to have the
multinational breweries recognise their female staff
on the workfloor as regular employees has been going on since 2001 -
read about previous developments
in our archives.