Strikers claim shots fired

Police threatened workers and fired shots into the air as a dispute involving about 800 Cambodian workers at Phatthana Seafood Co Ltd in Thailand’s Songkhla province escalated yesterday, a workers’ representative said. Sok Sorng said “many police” had threatened workers with guns as more than 1,000 workers, including some from Myanmar and Thailand, rallied against management locking them out of the factory, which is believed to be a supplier of retail giant Walmart, a day after they went on strike over wages. … The workers went on strike on Sunday, accusing Phatthana, a major global seafood exporter and a member of the PTN group, of scrapping a 20-baht (US$0.64) daily food allowance and a 20-baht daily hard-work bonus after the provincial minimum wage was raised from 176 baht to 246 baht on April 1. …

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012041055531/National-news/strikers-claim-shots-fired.html