Cambodian garment workers charged over strike violence
Reuters | 18 June 2013
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Sixteen Cambodian garment workers
and union representatives have been charged with inciting violence and
damaging property during a strike for higher pay at a factory making
clothes for U.S. sportswear company Nike, a lawyer said on Tuesday.
Low-cost labor has attracted Western brands to Cambodia
and garments now account for around 75 percent of exports from the
Southeast Asian country, but strikes over pay and working conditions
have become common.
Up to 4,000 workers at Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing Co,
which employs more than 5,000 people, went on strike on May 21. Police
intervened to end protests on May 27 and on June 3, when some strikers
rampaged through the factory.
Lawyer Kuch Ratha told Reuters that eight workers were in custody and the other people charged were in hiding.
"The court has denied our request for bail for the eight," he said.
The Free Trade Union (FTU), which is active at the Sabrina plant, said last week that 288 workers had been fired on June 6 and 7 for going on strike.
"Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing Co.
regrets having to take this action but feels strongly that threats to
our workers' safety, property damage and violence cannot be ignored," it
said.
The strikers wanted Sabrina to give them $14 a month to help pay for
transport, rent and healthcare on top of their $74 minimum wage.
Sabrina says it already pays more than the minimum.
The FTU said about 300 members remained on strike as the company had not met their demands.
Sabrina said a state mediation body, the Strike Prevention
Committee, had declared the strike over. Some 94 employees had not shown
up for work and were considered to have given up their jobs, but it
would welcome an application if they wanted to come back.
FTU President Chea Mony said those who had stayed away did so because they feared they would be implicated in the violence.
"This is discrimination against the union -- Sabrina doesn't want another union inside the factory," Chea Mony said.
Members of the rival Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union did not take part in the strike.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) monitors pay and working
conditions at many factories in Cambodia but strikes and sometimes
violent protests have been on the rise as unions emboldened by a
shortage of skilled workers push for higher wages and improved safety.
Strikes by the more than 300,000 garment workers
in the country nearly quadrupled last year to 134, industry body the
Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia says. The 48 strikes this
year already exceed those in the whole of 2010 or 2011.
4 comments:
ប្រយ័ត្នក្តារ ត!
Honestly I don't give a fuck about Union! But these dirt poor Cambodian workers deserve a living wage! Now I know why dirt poor Cambodian workers would risk their life to find work in neighboring countries!
Sure there are plenty of jobs in Cambodia and it is the job that nobody want!
'By the grace of God': How workers survive on $7.25 per hour
http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/06/17195815-by-the-grace-of-god-how-workers-survive-on-725-per-hour?lite
នៅពេលនោះក្នុងសាលាប្រជុំមានបុរសម្នាក់ដែលមានវិញ្ញាណល្អនៅក្នុងខ្លួន ស្រែកឡើងថា៖ កក្តាន់! កក្តាន់!
Post a Comment