Cambodian Minimum Wage Dispute Hits Garment Industry Advantage

P, a driver of a three wheeled motorcycle in Liberty Square, Phnom Penh, Kampuchea, has seen the police disperse the protesters in the square not long ago.

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Sanglanxi, the leader of the largest opposition party of the National Salvation Party in Kampuchea, has launched a "daily demonstration" since December 15th last year, calling for prime minister Hong Sen to step down and hold a general election again.

At the same time, 5 trade union organizations closely associated with the opposition party launched a nationwide strike campaign, demanding a substantial increase in the wages of workers from about $100 to $160 per month.

Earlier this year, strikes broke out in the industrial park on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

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< p > when reporters came to Kampuchea again, the bustling and hustle and bustle in the city of Phnom Penh has been restored. The motorcycles crowd and all kinds of brand cars are flooded with large and small roads in Phnom Penh. Commercial advertisements are repeatedly shown on the huge LED billboards in large shopping malls, and tourist attractions and large supermarkets are still weaving.

The temporary tent built by anti-government protesters in the Liberty Square has been cleared. Only soldiers in patrol at the corner of the square remind people that there has been a large-scale anti government rally here.

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< p > reporters started from Phnom Penh City area for about 1 hours to arrive at the Veng Sreng Industrial Zone, which was the most seriously affected. There were 3 large industrial parks along both sides of Wen Sheng Road, including Jiahua Industrial Park, anda Industrial Park and Yukang Industrial Park.

In addition to the hundreds of enterprises in these 3 industrial parks, there are also large and small garment factories built by other private enterprises. The total number of garment factories is up to 300, accounting for nearly 1/3 of the total number of garment factories in Kampuchea.

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< p > > a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp" > clothing and garment industry < /a > is the largest export industry in Kampuchea. The industry employs about 600 thousand workers, the garment industry accounts for more than 80% of Kampuchea's exports, and the contribution rate to GDP is as high as 15%~18%.

Lu Qijian, Secretary General of the Kampuchea Garment Manufacturers Association, told an interview with our reporter that although there were already 90% workers returning to work in the garment factory, the strike which lasted for nearly 10 days caused a direct economic loss of 200 million dollars in the clothing and footwear industry in Kampuchea. The direct losses caused by the strike and violence to foreign investment confidence are still incalculable.

"Some Korean garment manufacturers are considering relocation, and more buyers may consider pferring orders to neighboring countries such as Vietnam. These negative effects will gradually show up in the next one or two quarters."

Lu Qijian said.

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< p > Kampuchea native worker hole is a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/business/" > Chinese garment factory < /a > British (Kampuchea) Garment Co., Ltd., an old worker for more than 10 years.

He told reporters that, like the recent large-scale strikes and violence, it was his first experience. "My monthly basic salary is 190 dollars, plus overtime work can get 300 dollars. There are two children in school who need support. I don't think strike is a rational act. Forcing other workers to strike with violence is even more wrong."

EN Kong told reporters.

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< p > the direct economic loss during the strike of this garment factory is up to US $100 thousand. Due to the pause in production, the delay in delivery may lead to further losses. But the most important reason is that the buyer may worry about the safety situation in Kampuchea and may cancel the subsequent orders. "Currently, Japanese buyers and Chinese buyers are considering cancelling eighty thousand and fifty thousand orders respectively.

If the order is formally cancelled, it will bring more than 300 thousand US dollars to the factory. "

The director, Zhang Ding sighed.

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< p > the senior economist of Kampuchea prime minister, "a href=" //www.sjfzxm.com/pioneer/ "Mei Jia Yan /a", told reporters that the current strike and violence of workers are very unfavorable to Kampuchea's economic development.

Khan said Kampuchea relies on foreign investment, especially investment in the clothing industry, to create more jobs and promote economic development for the region, but this incident has caused great harm to Kampuchea's image. Foreign investors have been harmed by the government's confidence and trust in maintaining stability and maintaining law and order.

"The proposal of the opposition and some trade unions to raise 160 dollars in wages is not realistic, and will lead to a large number of factories leaving Kampuchea, which will cause a fatal blow to Kampuchea's garment industry."

He said.

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