While the nationwide garment factory strike that was organized in Cambodia was expected to make an impact with most of the factory workers joining, after the first day, it fizzled out. Though two union leaders claimed that hundreds of thousands of workers joined the agitation on its first day, only a few factories reported work stoppages. Cambodian Alliance of Trade Union said that workers joined back work since the Ministry of Labor promised to look into workers’ salaries.

Since an earlier round of minimum wage protests were violently suppressed in January, the government has refused to restart negotiations between workers and employers over a higher minimum wage, which is currently at 100 dollars per month. The group of eight unions and at least eight labour associations have said that another round of stay-at-home strikes following the Khmer New Year, which begins on April 14. About 600 workers held an unrelated protest outside the E-Z International Garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district on Thursday morning demanding that management meets their 17 demands. The demands include a 6 dollars monthly health stipend, a daily 1 dollar meal allowance, a 10 dollars monthly transportation stipend and the construction of additional toilets in the factory.

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