Cambodia’s government and several unions agreed on Thursday to a 9-percent minimum wage rise for garment workers but the industry’s biggest unions said their demands were not met and a strike was still possible.
Garment workers have threatened a nationwide strike in Cambodia, where minimum wages are among the world’s lowest, if pay levels fail to rise sharply in an industry vital to the impoverished country’s nascent economic recovery.
Labor Minister Vong Sauth said wages would rise from $56 a month to $61 from Oct. 1 under a new four-year agreement that would be strictly enforced.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union (FTU), which had demanded a $70 minimum monthly wage and organised a strike for July 13-15, told Reuters those who voted did not represent the majority of workers. He had not been invited to the talks.
“We were not included to provide opinions,” he said, adding he wanted to see more details of the agreement before deciding whether to go ahead with a strike.
Ath Thorn, president of Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, which represents about 40,000 workers and had sought a $93 monthly wage, told reporters he would ask his members if they agreed with the new wage.
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