Pinoy Weekly | Migrants call for boycott of Cambodian products amid labor tension

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 01:27 AM PST Labor groups picket the Cambodian Embassy in Makati City to protest repression of protesting Cambodian workers. (Contributed photo) “As an act of protest and to express our international indignation, we call on all Filipino compatriots, migrant workers of other nationalities and the freedom-loving public to launch a boycott against products of the Yak Jin company and other Cambodian-based garment factories. ” Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairperson, asked Filipino migrant workers and immigrants, as well as its chapters, members and networks around the world, to boycott all products of garment factories amidst the escalating attacks against protesting workers in Cambodia. Workers of the Yak Jin factory in the said country staged a protest last January 2, asking for salary increase from their current wages. Government troops threatened the protesters with “metal pipes, knives, AK47 rifles, slingshots and batons”. Some 10 people, including monks, were arrested. Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairperson. (PW File Photo) The next day, soldiers opened fire and launched grenades at protesting workers at the Canadia industrial park. The violent dispersal left four workers dead, 21 wounded and 23 arrested by Cambodian authorities. The workers are demanding an increase in their minimum wage from the current USD80/month (PHP 3,520) to US$ 160/month(PhP 7,040). Garment factories in Cambodia manufacture products for brands such as H&M, Adidas, GAP and Walmart, employing an estimated 500,000 workers, mostly women workers from rural areas. “We condemn in strongest terms the violent crackdowns and human rights violations of the Cambodian government against the Yak Jin workers,” Martinez said. As migrant workers, Martinez said they express solidarity and sympathy with the Cambodian workers and their families in their fight against unjust and inhumane working conditions. “We hold the Cambodian government and the Yak Jin authorities jointly and solidarily accountable for the deaths, injuries and human rights violations against the workers,” he added. Labor groups also expressed their sympathy for, and solidarity to, the aggrieved Cambodian workers, saying the violence sets a bad precedent for workers’ struggles across the globe. “The Cambodian government cannot just go away with such brutality,” said Anna Leah Escresa, executive director of the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (Eiler). Labor advocacy groups led by Eiler joined the militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in a picket protest at the Cambodian Embassy in Makati City last January 10. An all-women protest led by Gabriela is set to be held at the same embassy on January 13.