AFP
PHNOM PENH - Thousands of Cambodian workers marked international labour day Saturday by marching through the capital to demand better work conditions and the establishment of a labour court.
The marchers, mostly textile workers carrying banners, made their way from a park to the national assembly, where they handed a petition to 10 opposition party lawmakers.
"We want the government to establish a labour court to resolve workers' conflicts with employers," said Chea Mony, head of the country's most prominent workers' group, the Cambodian Free Trade Union.
"The workers need better protection of their rights so that they're free from exploitation."
Toun Touch, 35, who works at a garment factory outside Phnom Penh, told AFP she wanted the government to raise her monthly wage from 50 dollars to 93 dollars.
The workers later marched to the news stand where Chea Vichea, who headed the country's largest labour union and was a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, was gunned down in January 2004.
The daylight murder was condemned by rights groups as a brutal attempt to silence opposition-linked unions and two men jailed over the killing were later released. A retrial has not yet been scheduled.
Garment exports, the impoverished country's largest source of foreign exchange, have dropped sharply amid the global economic downturn, causing tens of thousands of workers to lose their jobs this year.
The marchers, mostly textile workers carrying banners, made their way from a park to the national assembly, where they handed a petition to 10 opposition party lawmakers.
"We want the government to establish a labour court to resolve workers' conflicts with employers," said Chea Mony, head of the country's most prominent workers' group, the Cambodian Free Trade Union.
"The workers need better protection of their rights so that they're free from exploitation."
Toun Touch, 35, who works at a garment factory outside Phnom Penh, told AFP she wanted the government to raise her monthly wage from 50 dollars to 93 dollars.
The workers later marched to the news stand where Chea Vichea, who headed the country's largest labour union and was a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, was gunned down in January 2004.
The daylight murder was condemned by rights groups as a brutal attempt to silence opposition-linked unions and two men jailed over the killing were later released. A retrial has not yet been scheduled.
Garment exports, the impoverished country's largest source of foreign exchange, have dropped sharply amid the global economic downturn, causing tens of thousands of workers to lose their jobs this year.
1 comment:
Great news! .....
Cambodian workers march for their rights on International Labour Day.
Also, in the USA, American workers have been marching for their rights, against the capitalist ruling class.
But if you didn't know that it is because the mainstream media, representing the interests of the ruling class, don't report it!
This is the way to go, folks!
"Workers of the World Unite..." remember?!
So Cambodia and USA people have things in common. Anyone who says USA has freedom and democracy must either be lying, or asleep!
Wake up to what is happening in USA today!
It is a plutocracy of the rich for the rich, not the people.
It is a militaristic, imperialist superpower that will destroy the rest of he world with it.
The corporate media is not free, unless you are rich enough to own it, and so it is a propaganda arm of Wall Street.
To enrich the corrupt banksters, tax payer money bails them out of the trouble they caused, while the government plans to slash social benefits of the people, and increase spending on wars to enrich their mates.
As the American people finally wake up and realise their real enemy is not "Muslim terrorists" but the criminals in their own country and government, the torture, prisons and fascism will be ready for them.
Sound like "freedom and democracy" to you?!
I don't think so!
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