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| Garment workers from the Hai Yon factory strike in Phnom Penh yesterday. Workers from four factories protested to demand better working conditions and the reinstatement of sacked union officials. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post |
The Phnom Penh Post
Little more than a week after garment workers were granted a US$10 monthly increase in allowances and bonuses, thousands of workers at a number of factories joined strikes with a clear message yesterday: they need more.
Workers rallied outside factory gates and some marched to the
Ministry of Social Affairs in a bid for more bonuses and the
reinstatement of sacked union representatives.
Sieng Yot, a Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union
official at Hai Yon factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, said
more than 100 workers from that factory had voiced their demands in the
city centre.
“The workers demanded five points, including that [management] allow
three union officials and six workers who were sacked in May to go back
to work, and that they pay workers $15 for transportation and
accommodation,” he said.
In Dangkor district, C.CAWDU official Ney Buntoeun said about 1,000
workers at the Golden Gain Shoe company striked for a second day.
“The workers decided to strike after the company forced them into overtime,” he said.
Their demands include three meals per day, $20 per month for mothers with babies, and other bonuses, he said.
More than 100 workers at Master & Frank (Cambodia) in Kandal
province’s Ang Snuol district were striking in front of the factory
yesterday, also demanding the reinstatement of a C.CAWDU union leader.
In the same district, about 1,000 workers from the Sun Best Garment
factory in Kandal entered their third day of strikes for increased
transportation and accommodation bonuses.
Sath Samuth, secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour, said the
Labour Advisory Committee had already secured accommodation and
increased attendance bonuses for workers, effective from September 1.
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