Thousands join national strike

THOUSANDS of garment workers took to the streets yesterday as part of a promised mass strike to protest against the industry’s minimum wage, though industry and union estimates differed as to the scale of the work stoppage.

Kong Athit, secretary general of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday evening that more than 68,000 workers from 53 factories had joined the strike. Another 52,000 workers, he claimed, had been prevented by their employers from taking part.

“This shows our success,” Kong Athit said. “I expect that there will be even more than this on the second day of the strike.”

But Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said these numbers were vastly inflated.

“20,000 was the number of workers that did not come to work, but this did not represent the total number of workers that were striking,” he said. “Probably 8 or 9,000 at best were striking.”

Several people were arrested and temporarily detained during demonstrations this morning, but for the most part, local authorities allowed strikers to protest peacefully... read the full story in tomorrow’s Phnom Penh Post or see the updated story online from 3PM UTC/GMT +7 hours.

THOUSANDS of garment workers took to the streets yesterday as part of a promised mass strike to protest against the industry’s minimum wage, though industry and union estimates differed as to the scale of the work stoppage. Kong Athit, secretary general of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday evening that more than 68,000 workers from 53 factories had joined the strike. Another 52,000 workers, he claimed, had been prevented by their employers from taking part. “This shows our success,” Kong Athit said. “I expect that there will be even more than this on the second day of the strike.” But Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said these numbers were vastly inflated. “20,000 was the number of workers that did not come to work, but this did not represent the total number of workers that were striking,” he said. “Probably 8 or 9,000 at best were striking.” Several people were arrested and temporarily detained during demonstrations this morning, but for the most part, local authorities allowed strikers to protest peacefully... read the full story in tomorrow’s Phnom Penh Post or see the updated story online from 3PM UTC/GMT +7 hours.