PHNOM PENH — Hundreds of Cambodian garment workers sacked from a
factory supplying brands including Gap and H&M were reinstated
Friday, a union leader said, after a protest forced an apparent
climbdown by their employer.
Around 4,000 workers marched through
Phnom Penh on Thursday in protest at the dismissal of 720 workers for
going on strike over claims of intimidation by the factory owner.
They
were reinstated while an apparent suspension of 5,000 other staff was
lifted by the Singapore-owned SL Garment Processing factory on Friday,
union leader Ath Thorn told AFP.
"After a long negotiation, the
company agreed to withdraw the dismissal and allow all workers to resume
their work today (Friday), Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of
Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said.
Workers had
walked out claiming intimidation over regular factory inspections
carried out by an official flanked by military police.
The factory denied the allegations and said the workers were fired because their strike was illegal.
Chin Sao, a manager at the factory, confirmed the workers had returned to their posts.
"I'm happy that we are partners again," he said.
Disputes over wages, safety and conditions in Cambodia's lucrative garment industry are frequent.
The
multi-billion dollar industry employs about 650,000 people and is a key
source of foreign income for the impoverished country.
In
July the International Labour Organization (ILO) accused Cambodia of
backsliding in efforts to improve working conditions in the sector.
The
kingdom was failing to make progress in areas such as worker and fire
safety and the use of child labour, the ILO said in a report.
Concerns
over worker safety intensified in May after a ceiling collapse killed
two workers at a Taiwanese-owned factory producing shoes for Japanese
sports brand Asics.
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