Cambodia: “Our members demand 160 dollars”
Both countries have seen protests for quite a while: Cambodia had to deal
with severe protests in May and November, when a woman died and several
dozens were injured after a harsh police intervention. Just last week, some 300,000 Cambodian textile workers went
on strike. During the strike a lot of factories closed down, fearing massive destruction. The closure seems to have cost
the local textile industry some 10 million euro per day.
The minimum
wage was subsequently increased from 95 dollars (69 euro) to 100 dollars (73
euro) per month in order to avoid further losses, but the Cambodian textile workers demand 160
dollar (117 euro) per month. “As long as we do not get it, we will
keep on protesting”, the labour union president has said to fashion website WWD. Labour rights
organization Solidarity Center believes the wage increase is a first step, as
it shows the government is willing to negotiate.
Haiti: workers find first increase ridiculous
The Haitian minimum wage was also increased recently, after protests in its
capital Port-au-Prince. The minimum wage was lifted from 200
Haitian gourde (3.65 euro) to 225 gourde (3.73 euro). Haïti 17, the labour
union for the textile sector, finds the increase “ridiculously low” and demands a
500 gourde (8.29 euro) minimum wage per day. The labour union believes that
amount would enable workers to fulfil their basic needs.
The Haitian textile industry makes up 90 % of the country’s export, bringing in 440 million euro per year. 31,000
people work in the sector. Manufacturers fear they will not be able to compete
with other countries if the wage costs keep rising. According to the industry,
wages are already 4 times higher than in Bangladesh.
(Translated by Gary Peeters)
