Workers Who Make Our Clothes and Shoes—Far, Far Away—Halt Mass Strike

Sunday, September 19, 2010
David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

Cambodian garment workers strike against PCCS (photo: Pha Lina, Phnom Penh Post)

More than half of the garment workers in Cambodia, where retail goods are manufactured for the West, temporarily ended their mass strike this week after industry officials agreed to more talks with union representatives.

On July 27, police in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh used electric shock batons to break up a protest by about 3,000 employees of PCCS Garments, a Malaysian-owned company that produces goods for The Gap, Old Navy, Carter’s, Puma, Champion, Cross Creek and Nike, among others.

Garment workers, along with athletic-shoe makers, totaling more than 200,000, have been upset for months, since the minimum wage was increased only by $6 a month, from $55 to $61. A living wage is said to be $91 a month. The new wage, set to take effect in October, would be frozen until 2014.

Labor leaders called off the strike with the hope that new talks beginning on September 27 will lead to workers getting $93 a month in wages.

In 2008, the garment industry accounted for 15% of Cambodia’s gross domestic product and two-thirds of its exports. However, the worldwide recession led to the closing of 95 factories last year and the loss of 70,000 jobs.

Garment Strike in Phnom Penh Reaches Critical Mass: Will Adidas, Gap, and Puma Pay Workers A Living Wage? (by Anne Elizabeth Moore, Truthout)

Cambodian Garment Workers Call Off Strike After Talks Agreed (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)