Cambodian unions say 80,000 garment workers to strike next week

10/09/2010
Source: Monsters and Critics

Phnom Penh - Cambodia was facing one of its biggest industrial actions in years after a coalition of garment unions said Friday that 80,000 workers would strike next week in a dispute over the revised minimum wage.

Ath Thorn, the president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, told the German Press Agency dpa that the work stoppage would run for five days

starting Monday.

'We are pushing for negotiations on the wage and other benefits,' he said. 'We don't demand a minimum wage - we demand a living wage.'

Ath Thorn said the decision to strike came after the industry body, the Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia (GMAC), failed to respond to its overtures.

He said further action was likely unless GMAC met the demands of the 13 unions involved.

The coalition, which represents around a quarter of Cambodia's garment workers, said July's four-year agreement between government, GMAC and some of the other unions to increase the monthly minimum wage by five dollars to 61 dollars was insufficient.

Ath Thorn said workers were seeking a 'living wage' of 93 dollars per month, echoing a finding by the government's National Institute of Statistics that the country's 358,000 garment workers need to earn that much to afford food, housing and travel expenses.

GMAC secretary general Ken Loo told local media Friday that the strike was unlikely to attract the support of 80,000 workers, adding that he would advise member factories to file legal suits against unions to compel strikers to resume work.

The garment manufacturing industry is Cambodia's largest foreign exchange earner, with the bulk of exports sent to the United States and the European Union. The global economic crisis seriously affected the industry, which accounted for 15 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008 and two-thirds of exports.

The Ministry of Labour said 93 factories closed last year with the loss of almost 70,000 jobs and significant cuts to overtime. However, industry watchers noted some signs of improvement this year.