Cambodian garment factory workers are fighting for minimum wages though export earnings of the garment sector is about a third of the country’s GDP. Cambodia has one of the lowest minimum wages in the Asia-Pacific. There are more than 6,00,000 garment workers in the country, most of them women. Aside from receiving low wages, workers also suffer poor working conditions.

Some factories have been hit by strikes lasting for as long as a year. Strikes are often violently dispersed by government forces, resulting in the deaths of workers. Learning from this debacle, garment workers decided to revive the campaign for wage increase, this time have directed their appeal to global clothing brands that buy and sub-contract supplies from Cambodia. The campaign was aimed at pressuring global brands such as H&M, Walmart, Levi’s, Gap, Puma, C&A, Adidas and Zara to directly negotiate higher wages for workers with their suppliers.

Garment workers say they are justified in using this strategy. They say global clothing brands have amassed more than enough profit which can be used to for the welfare of workers in Cambodia. However, the government reiterated its position that a substantial wage increase would scare away investors and disrupt local economy.