It is very concerned about unemployed garment workers when garment factories were closed down. By the way, the small amount of wage is not enough to support their living cost. Many of them live hand to month and are unable to pay rent as well.
This month, 12 garment factories stopped its operation and leave thousand of workers unemployed. And each factory employed between 700 to 2000 workers. Those are located in Phnom Penh, Kanda and Kampong Speu provinces.
According to senior labor consultant, he said that frequent workers’ strike is the cause of making many factories to miss export deadline and frightened away international buyers, thus lowering profits and leading to closure.
Joseph Mussomeli was quoted by the Cambodia Daily at the National Industrial Relation Conference in Phnom Penh as saying that due to strike from March to May, some US-based buyers had diverted orders from Cambodia.
By the way, some factory managers closed down their factories without paying salary to garment worker as well. More than 800 workers working for Gold Lida factory protested against the managers who fled with a company payroll. The Coalition of Cambodian Garment Workers Democratic Union asked prime minister Hun Sen to pay each worker $62.30.
Very sad day for those workers. The job market for any unskilled labor like factories and assembly are never safe. It is influence by world market of supply, demand, and cheap labor. Hopefully, those paidless workers can be compensated.
Since joinging the World Trade Organization, neighboring Vietnam will compete directly with Cambodia’s only major industry, Garment. Hopefully, Cambodia’s trade favored status with China and the West remains intact. It is the only way, Garment can stay afloat.