Factory Owners Agree to Provide More Benefits
Garment factory owners have agreed to provide workers with an additional $9 in monthly benefits for transportation, housing and attendance in order to reduce growing protests in the sector, Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) officials said yesterday. “We will provide $3 in attendance bonuses and $6 for [housing or transportation] fees,” said Kong Sang, GMAC’s first deputy chairman, at a press conference following a meeting between unions and manufacturers at the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce. Garment workers currently receive a $61 monthly minimum wage, plus $5 per month in health benefits, but workers and unions have consistently said that this figure does not provide them with enough on which to live. From October 2011 to April 2012, strikes in the garment sector doubled over the same period in 2010 to 2011. …
