Kim Samath
The Phnom Penh Post
Wage crisis hits point of no return
LABOUR leaders have pledged that a strike that could be the biggest Cambodia has seen in recent memory will be held peacefully and without public disturbance, amid questions about whether authorities will allow the work stoppage to proceed as planned.
Unionists claim to have collected thumbprints from 80,000 workers who have pledged to participate in the five-day strike, slated to begin on Monday, to protest against a July decision setting the minimum wage for garment workers at US$61 per month.
Protest leaders have requested that the monthly wage for Cambodia’s 345,000 garment and footwear workers be set at $93.
Ath Thun, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said strikers would demonstrate at their factories rather than on the streets, and therefore posed no threat to public order.
“The workers can either stay at home or go to the factories, but they will not work for one week,” Ath Thun said.
Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia, said on Wednesday that his organisation would advise any factories facing work stoppages to seek court injunctions declaring the strikes illegal and requiring all strikers to return to work within 48 hours.
Cambodia’s Labour Law requires that workers planning a strike give notice to employers and the Ministry of Labour at least seven working days in advance. Union leader Kong Athit said that letters to GMAC and the Ministry of Labour had been sent only yesterday.
Free Trade Union president Chea Mony said the strike’s organisers had not made sufficient effort to negotiate before planning a work stoppage.
“If we strike without holding negotiations and having a clear purpose, it can affect investors, and the government might take action,” Chea Mony said.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said police would not be stationed at factories pre-emptively, and would not suppress demonstrations so long as they were conducted lawfully and without violence.
“If they follow the law, it doesn’t affect security and order,” Khieu Sopheak said. “We will take action if they break the law by causing violence or destroying factory property.”
Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema could not be reached. Deputy governor Pa Socheatvong and police chief Touch Naruth said they were too busy to comment.
Loo said it was unlikely that the actual number of strikers would come anywhere close to 80,000. Union leaders, he said, had not considered the effect the strike could have on the sector.
“The unions for sure are not going to suffer,” Loo said. “It’s going to be the workers that are going to be harmed the most.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SAM RITH AND JAMES O’TOOLE
LABOUR leaders have pledged that a strike that could be the biggest Cambodia has seen in recent memory will be held peacefully and without public disturbance, amid questions about whether authorities will allow the work stoppage to proceed as planned.
Unionists claim to have collected thumbprints from 80,000 workers who have pledged to participate in the five-day strike, slated to begin on Monday, to protest against a July decision setting the minimum wage for garment workers at US$61 per month.
Protest leaders have requested that the monthly wage for Cambodia’s 345,000 garment and footwear workers be set at $93.
Ath Thun, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said strikers would demonstrate at their factories rather than on the streets, and therefore posed no threat to public order.
“The workers can either stay at home or go to the factories, but they will not work for one week,” Ath Thun said.
Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia, said on Wednesday that his organisation would advise any factories facing work stoppages to seek court injunctions declaring the strikes illegal and requiring all strikers to return to work within 48 hours.
Cambodia’s Labour Law requires that workers planning a strike give notice to employers and the Ministry of Labour at least seven working days in advance. Union leader Kong Athit said that letters to GMAC and the Ministry of Labour had been sent only yesterday.
Free Trade Union president Chea Mony said the strike’s organisers had not made sufficient effort to negotiate before planning a work stoppage.
“If we strike without holding negotiations and having a clear purpose, it can affect investors, and the government might take action,” Chea Mony said.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said police would not be stationed at factories pre-emptively, and would not suppress demonstrations so long as they were conducted lawfully and without violence.
“If they follow the law, it doesn’t affect security and order,” Khieu Sopheak said. “We will take action if they break the law by causing violence or destroying factory property.”
Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema could not be reached. Deputy governor Pa Socheatvong and police chief Touch Naruth said they were too busy to comment.
Loo said it was unlikely that the actual number of strikers would come anywhere close to 80,000. Union leaders, he said, had not considered the effect the strike could have on the sector.
“The unions for sure are not going to suffer,” Loo said. “It’s going to be the workers that are going to be harmed the most.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SAM RITH AND JAMES O’TOOLE
7 comments:
Fair enough. Each law maker in Cambodia makes $1500 - $ 2000 a month. It's about time, they do some thing for these poor workers. May be then people will be able to have enough money to be straightened and stop being so corrupted.
Also, those law makers need to look into teaching profession. Each teacher gets $ 40 a month with no medical insurance etc...So those teacher have to make up somewhere. If corruption is at every level in Cambodia then corruption needed to stoped by real law at a every level.
Wow! what's is real law????????10:59?
In order to control someone, they have to make them hungry and blind. In Xambodia man makes Hungry by create corruption. When Hungry, man doesn't think much except Food and when you blind you won't be able to see even they steal your goods or invade your property. What do I mean by blind?. In here blind means they limit your ability to see, to think and limit your resource. When your ability to see, think are limited then you will be afraid even to stand up for your right or to defend your property once someone invades it.
May Buddha bless Khmer.
Education is the way to see and think. They can't close school because it is too obvious but they can select what kind of school do they want you to have. In this case they allow you to have a poor quality Scholl.
In order for Khmer to become a develop country we have to have a good quality Education system then it comes back to pay teacher salary well. But I don't think it is going to happen in CPP government.
We have to fight for it. Nothing is free.
345,000 active workers. Wow, imagine if we can transform them into a fighting army.
Hope Cambodia Will Change in next election.
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Wages should be determined by supply and demand. Wages should not be guaranteed at a minimum wage level because over the long run if the minimum wage works to the detriment of enterprises, factories will relocate elsewhere. This theory has been expounded by many economists.
What the authorities should do is to ensure that working conditions are not harsh, such as very long working hours, poor lighting, poor ventilation and the like.
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