Garment workers get salary hike

Garment workers get salary hike

PHNOM PENH (Reuters): Cambodian garment worker unions and factory owners have agreed an increase in the industry's monthly minimum wage from US$40 to $45, ending weeks of mass walkouts and at times violent demonstrations.

"We accept the raise of $5 a month and it means we will not hold any more strikes or demonstrations this year," spokesman for the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia Srey Kimheang told Reuters on Friday.

"An increase of $5 a month isn't much, but we must accept it because we've done our best to reach a settlement."

The agreement was reached by Cambodia's Labor Advisory Committee, an arbitration body made up of representatives of unions, industry and the Cambodian government.

Garment industry representatives expressed satisfaction with the settlement.

"It's good news...this is the best we could do," Roger Tan, Secretary General of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia told Reuters. "The basic salary is just a guideline because a lot of factories pay more than that anyway."

A series of rotating strikes and violent demonstrations brought Cambodia's garment industry to a halt in late June by workers pressing for an increase in the minimum wage from $40 to $70 and a reduction in the working week from 48 hours to 44 hours.

Garments are Cambodia's largest source of foreign exchange, with 178 factories employing more than 100,000 workers.