Little appetite for garment strike in Phnom Penh
Most garment factories did not open for business Thursday, choosing to extend the Khmer New Year holidays—which officially ended Wednesday—rather than face industrial action in the form of a planned nationwide stay-at-home strike. However, a number of workers interviewed Thursday said they knew nothing about the strike, called by eight unions to demand a higher minimum wage and the release of 21 unionists and factory workers arrested during the last round of strikes in December. … Motivated by the fear of violence, the need to earn every dollar they can, or simple indifference, they said they would be back at their workstations as soon as the factory doors opened in the next few days. Touch, who gave only her first name, was playing a game of cards with fellow garment workers in her dormitory along factory-lined Veng Sreng Street. The unions behind the strike are asking workers to stay home until Wednesday. But Touch said she had not even heard of the strike and would be back at work on Monday, as soon as her factory reopened. … In the midst of those strikes, which had started the month before, the Labor Ministry raised the minimum wage for garment workers from $95 a month to $100. For Touch and her friends, the costs of the strikes decidedly outweighed the benefits. “It was only $5, and do you know how many people were killed?” she said. … Sieng Sambath, who heads the Worker Friendship Union Federation, said that by pressuring factories to extend the Khmer New Year holiday, unions have also forced them to push back production and postpone delivery on orders. And while the days may later be deducted from the workers’ annual leave, he said factories rarely grant those days in full, even when workers take the proper steps to request them. …
Zsombor Peter and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/little-appetite-for-garment-strike-in-phnom-penh-56695/
