Cambodian trade unions launch campaign to demand 177 USD basic wage

Cambodian trade unions on Wednesday launched a campaign to demand a 177 U.S. dollars monthly minimum wage in the garment and footwear sector, the current monthly minimum wage being 100 U.S. dollars, unionists and officials said.

Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said some 18 trade unions and associations had led the campaign, which was conducted during lunch breaks in front of factories.

"About 5,000 T-shirts written 'We Need 177 U.S. dollars' have been distributed to union activists in order to wear during the campaign," he told reporters, adding that the campaign was part of the global union campaigns to demand a decent minimum wage in the garment sector.

During the event, union activists distributed stickers featuring their demand to workers in some 300 factories, and the campaign did not disturb factories' production since it was held just about an hour at lunch breaks, he said.

Unions are demanding 177 U.S. dollars for a garment worker, the high end of what a Ministry of Social Affairs task force found to be a living wage last year.

Labor Minister Ith Samheng said the government and factory employers could not afford to raise the minimum wage for the workers to the highest point in one time.

"We have a mechanism to increase the wage for workers every year," he told reporters. "Trade unions should avoid any demand that is unacceptable."

He warned that too high wage would lead to the loss of investors and factory closures when they could not afford to pay the wage.

The garment and footwear industry comprises 960 factories with some 620,000 workers, according to the Ministry of Labor. The sector earned 5.5 billion U.S. dollars from exports last year, accounting for about 80 percent of the country's total exports.