Cambodia garment factory workers protesting for higher wages face down police violence

Police in Cambodia fired warning shots during a brief clash with striking garments factory workers demanding higher wages, an official said.
The violence broke out when military police tried to move thousands of striking workers off a road on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, according to Am Sam Ath of local rights group Licadho.
The workers then threw rocks at the authorities who fired “many warning shots'' into the air and hit protesters with their batons, he told AFP.
Disputes over wages and safety conditions are common in Cambodia's multi-billion dollar garment industry which supplies brands such as Gap, Nike and H&M.
The sector employs about 650,000 people.
With tens of thousands of garment workers on strike Friday across the country, activists voiced fears of further violence.
“There are a lot of workers and if authorities use force against them, the violence would spread,'' Am Sam Ath said, urging unionists and authorities to hold talks to settle the problem.
The security forces said they were forced to act after workers damaged factory property.
“Because they used violence, we had to prevent them,'' military police spokesman Kheng Tito told AFP.
“If we did not fire warning shots into the air, they would have totally destroyed the economic zone.''
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, blamed authorities for the latest clash.
“We strongly condemn the authorities for the violence against workers who are demanding an appropriate wage,'' he said.
The government announced earlier this week that the monthly minimum wage for garment workers would be increased from US$80 to US$95 starting from April next year.
The workers are demanding a minimum wage of US$160 per month in 2014.
Thousands of garment workers protested Friday outside the labor ministry or joined with opposition demonstrators in the capital demanding that Prime Minister Hun Sen step down and call a new election.
There have also been a series of recent protests by garment workers over poor conditions and low pay in factories, some of which have ended in violent crackdowns by security forces.

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