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Cambodia’s garment industry ceases operations due to strikes

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) on December 29 issued a statement, informing all stakeholders that the industry was unable to continue operations because six trade unions have conducted illegal and violent actions against factory property and forced workers out of work.
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) on December 29issued a statement, informing all stakeholders that the industry wasunable to continue operations because six trade unions have conductedillegal and violent actions against factory property and forced workersout of work.

"Since December 25, six trade unions have stagedillegal and violent actions including destroying factory property,inciting workers to strike, and forcing workers to stop their work aswell as their apparent impunity by the Ministry of Labour have left uswith no other option but to close," Xinhua news agency quoted thestatement as saying.

The six labour unions with thepro-opposition tendency have led tens of thousands of garment workers togo on strikes since December 25 after the government decided to raise amonthly minimum wage in the garment sector to 95 USD from the current80 USD, but those trade unions disagreed with the new wage hike anddemanded the government to force the GMAC to double worker's wage to 160USD from 2014.

Garment sector, the country's largest foreigncurrency earner, consists of about 500 factories employing some 510,600workers.

The industry earned 5 billion USD in the first eleven months of this year.-VNA
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