Cambodian garment workers to get US$6 a month pay rise to cope with inflation

Large numbers of Cambodian garment workers threatened to walk off their jobs unless they were given a pay rise to keep up with soaring food prices. On 1 April Cambodian garment manufacturers and labor unions agreed to an increase of US$6 per month for factory production line workers, after weeks of negotiations. The Cambodian Union Federation had originally demanded an increase of US$15 per month. Average monthly wages were US$50 per month before the negotiations.
Source: The Associated Press, 1 April 2008

Cambodian sex workers protest against police crackdown

About 200 Cambodian sex workers protested peacefully on 4 June against a police crackdown. Prostitutes complain that they had been unlawfully detained and highlight the behaviour of guards at the rehabilitation center where they were held. Sex work is not defined as illegal in Cambodian law. Police began rounding up sex workers in March, and detaining them for a week to 10 days at a rehabilitation center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
Some of the sex workers had been beaten and gang raped by the center guards, said Chan Dina, a member of the Cambodian Prostitute Union. Sex workers should have equal rights and protection from abuse, Chan Dina added. Protestors urged the government to end the crackdown as it is affecting the livelihood of sex workers.
Police Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, the Interior Ministry’s spokesman defended the crackdown, saying sex work is unacceptable in Cambodia.
Source: The Associated Press, 4 June 2008