Unions plan 2nd round of mass strikes
After the Court of Appeal denied bail to 21 jailed protesters on Tuesday, 16 labor unions and associations announced Wednesday that they will retaliate by calling a nationwide labor strike in the middle of March. The unions, which mainly represent workers in the garment industry, said they will also call on their members to cease working overtime between February 24 and 28 to demonstrate to factory owners and the government the importance of taking their demands seriously. … After the first meeting last week of the government’s special committee on the minimum wage, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, Mr. Sour said that the committee did not discuss further raises to the minimum wage, as the decision in December to raise the monthly wage to $100 was final. As part of a five-year wage plan approved in December, the government said it would raise the minimum wage in the garment sector to $160 over the next five years, despite a government study showing that the current livable wage for garment workers is between $157 and $177. Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), responded to the threat of renewed strikes saying he hoped “the government is diligent in enforcing the law.”
Mech Dara and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-plan-2nd-round-of-mass-strikes-52078/
