Strikers clash with colleagues at Nike factory in Cambodia
04/06/2013
Police said at least 11 policemen and eight workers were injured, according to Reuters, as workers at the Sabina factory outside Phnom Penn demonstrated about wage levels.
About 1,000 police and soldiers used batons and shields to separate the sides and disperse the strikers. "We had to break them up to protect the whole factory from destruction," Kheng Tito, a national military police spokesman, told the news agency.
Sao Sreytouch, a striking worker, said she was confronted by other workers with sticks and steel pipes upon entering the factory, where workers walked out on May 21.
Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union at Sabrina, accused police and factory owners of colluding "to cause chaos" and force an end to the strike.
A company representative said the company could not afford to raise workers' pay, which is the equivalent of up to $102 a month.
A spokeswoman for Nike said wages were the responsibility of the factory, but that Nike was would "continue to monitor the situation". "It is our understanding that this factory raised its own minimum wage on May 1 and pays above the country's minimum wage," said Nike spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi.
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