Striking Cambodian garment worker shot

Striking Cambodian garment worker shot

PHNOM PENH (Reuters): Security guards at a Malaysian-owned garment factory shot a 21-year-old female worker in the head on Thursday during a violent protest outside the factory over pay and conditions, police said.

The woman, a striking employee of the June Textile Co. Ltd., was in stable condition in the hospital, a trade union representative said.

Police said factory guards fired into the crowd of about 1,000 protesting workers as they attempted to storm the factory gates.

Up to five other people, including policemen, were wounded during the protest, apparently by stones thrown by the striking workers, police said.

In a similar incident on Wednesday more than 1,000 demonstrators smashed through the gates of another garment factory as they rushed in to urge workers there to join their strike.