Cambodian garment workers have been demanding higher wages for manufacturing products for Gap jeans and Nike trainers. But have been facing the brunt and even getting killed for protesting for wage hike.
Months of peaceful protests by Opposition supporters demanding new elections have posed little threat to Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving leaders. But when striking factory workers began to join forces with the Opposition, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) responded swiftly with at least four workers shot dead and dozens wounded by security forces.
About 650,000 workers provide the backbone of Cambodia's multi-billion dollar garment industry -- a key source of foreign income for the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. They are demanding doubling of minimum wage to 160 dollars a month, or about 8 dollars a day. So far, the government has offered them 100 dollars a month (over Rs 6,000). Safety worries are also rife in an industry that periodically sees mass fainting episodes often blamed on poor health, bad ventilation or exposure to dangerous chemicals.
Hun Sen's critics allege that the deadly crackdown on striking workers, some of whom were throwing rocks and molotov cocktails at police, was a pretext for a raid the following day on a peaceful opposition protest in a Phnom Penh park.
The government has since indefinitely banned demonstrations and the garment workers have ended their strike. Most have returned to work while some fled back to their villages in fear.
