Cambodia’s Top Trade Union Backs Opposition in Polls

Cambodia’s Free Trade Union (FTU), one of the biggest unions in the country, threw its weight Monday behind the largest opposition party ahead of upcoming elections, citing the party’s commitment to raising the minimum wage for factory workers. Union representatives from 37 factories and enterprises met Monday to discuss the differences between the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), and Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) in preparation for the July 28 national polls. Out of 79 participants representing the 100,000 FTU union members across the country, 76 voted in support of CNRP policies, while only three backed the CPP, FTU President Chea Mony told RFA’s Khmer Service. The FTU represents workers in the garment industry, the country’s biggest employer and key export earner. “They have decided that they will vote for the [Cambodia] National Rescue Party because they want a fair minimum wage,” Chea Mony said. In March, the CNRP proposed a minimum monthly wage of U.S. $150 for garment workers and U.S. $250 for civil servants., the newly formed opposition party announced at a press conference yesterday. In the same month, the government announced a higher minimum wage of U.S. $80 per month for garment and footwear workers. There is no minimum salary as such for civil servants, who are largely exempt from the country’s labor laws. Merger “The workers love the CNRP because the party was established through a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party (HRP), and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) has helped the workers since 1997,” Chea Mony said. …

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/workers-07152013192923.html