In Cambodia, national coalitions of garment worker unions have been conducting massive strikes for a higher minimum wage since %'"', when exports began picking up after the %'',$economic crisis and the government signalled they would be able to increase wages.- In %'"'. workers began striking for a #( USD monthly minimum wage; by March %'"(, the government had agreed only to ,'$ USD, prompting unions to continue strikes.8 In July %'"(, the government got re-elected, but only narrowly. The slim victory was a relative success for opposition parties, whose increasingly popular platform included an increase in the minimum wage. Faced with this growing movement, in January %'"), the government banned public gatherings and cracked down violently against striking garment workers and anti-government protestors, resulting in the deaths of four garment workers. Key independent trade union leaders in the protests have been charged and convicted of instigating violence during the protests in a criminal process that Human Rights Watch called a “charade” for its lack of evidence.# The trade union leaders’ sentences were overturned by an appeals court."' Cambodia has a unitary system of government in which the central government has exclusive governing authority, including enacting laws on labour and employment. This crackdown is critical context for the legal developments that followed. In May %'"+, Cambodia’s legislature passed a Trade Union Law that heavily limits trade union powers. Though a draft had been released in October %'"), there was no meaningful consultation with unions in development of the law. International civil society has spoken out strongly against the law and urged the government to engage meaningfully with unions in amending the law in January %'%'&"" However, the %'%'$ amendments have been marginal and do not address unions’ concerns."% After the %'"+ Trade Union Law, Cambodia has enacted more worker-friendly policies. In June 2018, supported by the ILO, Cambodia’s legislature passed the Law on Minimum Wage, %'",."($ In May %'"# the government clarified use of fixed-term contracts, as discussed further below. However, both policies fall short of unions’ demands for secure work at a decent wage. Map from https://freevectormaps.com/cambodia/KH-EPS-01-0001?ref=atr