Cambodian garment-worker protesters carry a wounded worker after a clash with police in front of a factory in Phnom Penh on Friday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A weeklong strike by Cambodian garment workers turned deadly Friday as police shot and killed at least four people and wounded several others in an attempt to break up a protest for higher wages. The violence came after weeks of escalating political and labor unrest marked by a series of opposition-led antigovernment protests and a nationwide strike that has stalled Cambodia's mainstay garment industry. Activists worry that the shootings could signal the government's growing propensity to use deadly force against its opponents, amid what political analysts say is Prime Minister Hun Sen's toughest political challenge in more than a decade. At about 10 a.m. local time Friday, military police armed with assault rifles opened fire on several hundred workers who were blocking a road on the southern fringe of the capital, Phnom Penh, after the protesters started hurling
objects at officers, police officials said. Chuon Narin, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, blamed "gangsters" and "anarchists" for instigating "violence toward the police," saying "Police are trying to defend themselves." Military police armed with assault rifles opened fire on several hundred workers who were blocking a road on the southern fringe of the capital, Phnom Penh. Video: Associated Press Rong Chuun, a union leader, rejected the allegations as a pretext to justify a government crackdown. He called for an "investigation to find those people who use violence." The shooting also left 23 people injured, while about 10 others were detained by police, according to Am Sam Ath, an activist at the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights. Clashes recurred in the afternoon, local media reported, with military police firing live ammunition as they approached a group of protesters at the same location as the earlier shooting. At least one worker was hurt, activists said. Police officials didn't comment on the number of injured in afternoon or morning clashes. Opposition leaders and rights activists condemned the use of deadly force. Sam Rainsy, president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, called for an "immediate stop of violent acts" and said his party would seek an international criminal probe into the shootings, according to statements posted on his Facebook page. Until Friday, the protests had been marked by relatively minor clashes in which police used tear gas and batons. The escalation came after thousands of garment workers defied government orders to end their strike by Thursday, reiterating demands for the garment industry's minimum wage to be raised to $160 a month—$60 higher than the government's latest offer. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance, a group of trade unions and labor-rights activists, estimates that a fair "living wage" for Cambodian garment workers would be $283 a month. The strike, started Dec. 24 by tens of thousands of workers, has forced many factories to halt production, widening potential fallout for this Southeast Asian economy, which relies heavily on garment manufacturing as its biggest export business and formal-sector employer. Union leaders said they would extend the strike unless labor officials and employers agreed to renegotiate workers' salaries. The strike came amid a rolling nationwide protest against Mr. Hun Sen's rule, launched last month by the Rescue Party. This included protest marches in Phnom Penh that drew tens of thousands of supporters—marking the largest protests seen in Cambodia since 1998. The Rescue Party said Friday that it plans to hold another demonstration on Sunday. Opposition leaders, who have enjoyed long-standing ties with labor groups, are challenging the results of a disputed July election and demanding that Mr. Hun Sen either resign or call a fresh vote. They have openly backed the garment strike, and thousands of workers have in turn supported the Rescue Party's protest. The prime minister, who has held power for 28 years, has said he would neither step down nor hold a new election. Cambodia's garment sector supplies apparel to retailers mainly in the U.S. and the European Union. It earned nearly $5.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2013, up 22% from 2012 period, according to the Commerce Ministry.Cambodia has about 800 garment and footwear factories that employ about 600,000 workers, mostly women, labor officials say. Manufacturers favor the country for its low wages, but strikes are frequent because of what union leaders say is widespread discontent with meager salaries, poor working conditions and lax enforcement of labor laws. Garment workers mounted 131 strikes from January to November, up from 121 for all of 2012, according to the garment manufacturers' association, making 2013 the most strike-prone year since record-keeping started in 2003. On Tuesday, the Labor Ministry proposed raising the minimum wage by 25% to $100 a month, starting in February—a slight increase over an earlier offer of a 19% raise, to $95 a month, that would start in April. Government officials said Thursday that they wouldn't better their latest offer, while the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia said it would neither participate in wage negotiations nor advise its members to restart operations until authorities and unions put an end to the unrest and alleged harassment of manufacturing operations.http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304325004579297511167310046
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