Kampuchea 60 Thousand Garment Workers Strike &Nbsp, Demanding Minimum Salary Of $93 Per Month.

Tens of thousands

The chairman of the Kampuchea labor union, Mr. Aton, said there were about 60 thousand workers involved in the strike action, and they came from more than 40 garment factories across the country.

There are 470 factories in Kampuchea.

"We will go on strike until we have reasonable consultation," he told Agence France-Presse.

Secretary General of Kampuchea Garment Manufacturers Association, said that the strike workers came from 20 thousand of the 19 factories, while only 10 factories were seriously affected.

The clothing industry is the main source of Kampuchea's external income, employing about 345 thousand employees, specializing in Gap, Banyton, Adidas (Adidas) and Puma (Puma) and other international famous brand production garments.

Moen Tora, a labor rights activist, said that these well-known international brands should put pressure on factories in Kampuchea to protect the rights of local workers.

Earlier, the government and management had agreed to set a minimum monthly salary of $61 for clothing and shoemaking workers, but the union said that such a salary was not enough to cover workers' food, accommodation and pportation expenses, so they asked to raise their minimum monthly salary to $93.

It is understood that the trade union originally hoped that the participants could exceed 80 thousand.

But he pointed out that because some workers were threatened by their employers and worried that they would be dismissed after the strike, the number of participants was less than expected.

Garment manufacturers have warned that strike action will lead to a decline in production and orders for buyers.

In an interview last week, Kun Lu said that because the unions that support strikes do not comply with the law, this will seriously damage the reputation of the country's garment industry.

In view of the strike action, Kun Lu said: "if they want to negotiate, they should not go on strike.

As employers, we can not respond to such threats. "

He said the Kampuchea garment manufacturers association is considering whether to take legal action against trade unions.

He said that the minimum monthly salary of $93 was "impossible" and that the affected factories had applied to the court for a strike ban and ordered workers to return to work within 48 hours.

"If they do not go back to work, the factory has the right to terminate their employment contracts," he said.

Reuters reported that the strike action in Kampuchea showed that a series of labor disputes recently erupted in China have spread to other Asian countries that provide cheap labor.