SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
A worker in a Cambodian apparel factory. (Photo: World Bank Photo Collection/ Flickr)
Garment workers in Cambodia, making apparel for the US shoe and sportswear company Nike, were attacked by police armed with electrified batons on Monday, marking a violent escalation in their battle to receive better ages at a factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the nation's capital city.
Approximately 3,000 workers, almost all women, had staged a sit-in on the road leading to the factory in order to demand an increase in health and living expenses from Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing, the local contractor hired by Nike.
Reuters reports that 23 of the women were injured as police moved in, dressed in riot gear and armed with "stun batons," which are similar to cattle prods.
Along with Bangladesh--which recently experienced the most deadly sweatshop disaster in the history of the garment industry when over 1,100 workers were killed in a factory collapse near Dhaka--Cambodia is one of the Asian countries where western retail companies have established manufacturing bases, taking advantage of cheap labor and relaxed safety laws.
Reuters adds:
Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union at Sabrina, said the workers making the Nike clothing had been staging strikes and protests since 21 May. They want the US sportswear firm, which employs more than 5,000 people at the plant, to give them $14 a month to help pay for transport, rent and healthcare costs on top of their $74 minimum wage.
Authorities declined to comment on the clash, saying they were still collecting reports. No immediate comment was available from Nike.
_____________________
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Garment workers in Cambodia, making apparel for the US shoe and sportswear company Nike, were attacked by police armed with electrified batons on Monday, marking a violent escalation in their battle to receive better ages at a factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the nation's capital city.
Approximately 3,000 workers, almost all women, had staged a sit-in on the road leading to the factory in order to demand an increase in health and living expenses from Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing, the local contractor hired by Nike.
Reuters reports that 23 of the women were injured as police moved in, dressed in riot gear and armed with "stun batons," which are similar to cattle prods.
Along with Bangladesh--which recently experienced the most deadly sweatshop disaster in the history of the garment industry when over 1,100 workers were killed in a factory collapse near Dhaka--Cambodia is one of the Asian countries where western retail companies have established manufacturing bases, taking advantage of cheap labor and relaxed safety laws.
Reuters adds:
Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union at Sabrina, said the workers making the Nike clothing had been staging strikes and protests since 21 May. They want the US sportswear firm, which employs more than 5,000 people at the plant, to give them $14 a month to help pay for transport, rent and healthcare costs on top of their $74 minimum wage.
Authorities declined to comment on the clash, saying they were still collecting reports. No immediate comment was available from Nike.
_____________________
Garment workers in Cambodia, making apparel for the US shoe and sportswear company Nike, were attacked by police armed with electrified batons on Monday, marking a violent escalation in their battle to receive better ages at a factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the nation's capital city.
Approximately 3,000 workers, almost all women, had staged a sit-in on the road leading to the factory in order to demand an increase in health and living expenses from Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing, the local contractor hired by Nike.
Reuters reports that 23 of the women were injured as police moved in, dressed in riot gear and armed with "stun batons," which are similar to cattle prods.
Along with Bangladesh--which recently experienced the most deadly sweatshop disaster in the history of the garment industry when over 1,100 workers were killed in a factory collapse near Dhaka--Cambodia is one of the Asian countries where western retail companies have established manufacturing bases, taking advantage of cheap labor and relaxed safety laws.
Reuters adds:
Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union at Sabrina, said the workers making the Nike clothing had been staging strikes and protests since 21 May. They want the US sportswear firm, which employs more than 5,000 people at the plant, to give them $14 a month to help pay for transport, rent and healthcare costs on top of their $74 minimum wage.
Authorities declined to comment on the clash, saying they were still collecting reports. No immediate comment was available from Nike.
_____________________