A fainted worker taken to hospital by a motorbike.Monsters and critics
Phnom Penh (DPA)- A trade union leader said Monday the mass fainting of workers at a factory making shoes for German sportswear giant Puma was likely due to exhaustion from pre-New Year's partying.
Cambodia's New Year holiday begins on Thursday, but many factories close early as hundreds of thousands of people visit their families in the provinces.
Chuon Momthol, president of the Cambodian Union Federation that represents all 4,000 workers at the Huey Chuen factory, said they were at the factory collecting their wages on Saturday when several collapsed. Others then started feeling faint.
'They saw three or four get sick and fall down, and then they panicked and became unconscious,' he said, adding that workers had told him their illness was not due to chemicals or contaminated water.
'They just said they cannot breathe, and then they fell down,' he said. 'There is no proper reason.'
He said the same thing happened on Sunday when other workers collected their wages. Around 200 workers were affected on each day.
Police and Ministry of Labour officials said they would investigate, but Chuon Momthol said he had yet to hear their results.
'But I was at factory at the time and I didn't feel anything,' he said. 'Before it happened some of the workers were dancing and putting powder on each other's faces.'
'I think that this is due to it being the New Year season,' he said. 'Everybody spends a lot of time dancing at night, and I think they didn't have enough sleep.'
Chuon Momthol said Puma ensured the factory had good working conditions and a good environment for employees.
Garment manufacturing is the country's largest foreign exchange earner and employs around 300,000 workers. Last year, Cambodia exported 3 billion dollars worth of garments, mostly to the United States and the European Union.
Cambodia's New Year holiday begins on Thursday, but many factories close early as hundreds of thousands of people visit their families in the provinces.
Chuon Momthol, president of the Cambodian Union Federation that represents all 4,000 workers at the Huey Chuen factory, said they were at the factory collecting their wages on Saturday when several collapsed. Others then started feeling faint.
'They saw three or four get sick and fall down, and then they panicked and became unconscious,' he said, adding that workers had told him their illness was not due to chemicals or contaminated water.
'They just said they cannot breathe, and then they fell down,' he said. 'There is no proper reason.'
He said the same thing happened on Sunday when other workers collected their wages. Around 200 workers were affected on each day.
Police and Ministry of Labour officials said they would investigate, but Chuon Momthol said he had yet to hear their results.
'But I was at factory at the time and I didn't feel anything,' he said. 'Before it happened some of the workers were dancing and putting powder on each other's faces.'
'I think that this is due to it being the New Year season,' he said. 'Everybody spends a lot of time dancing at night, and I think they didn't have enough sleep.'
Chuon Momthol said Puma ensured the factory had good working conditions and a good environment for employees.
Garment manufacturing is the country's largest foreign exchange earner and employs around 300,000 workers. Last year, Cambodia exported 3 billion dollars worth of garments, mostly to the United States and the European Union.
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