At least 23 workers were hurt in Cambodia when police used stun batons to end a protest over pay at a factory that makes clothing for sportswear company Nike, a worker and a trade union representative said.
Police with riot gear were deployed on Monday to move about 3,000 workers, mostly female, who had blocked a road outside their factory owned by Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing in Kompong Speu province, west of the capital, Phnom Penh.
A Nike spokeswoman in the United States told Reuters by e-mail that the company was "concerned" about the allegations and was investigating.
Nike requires contract manufacturers to respect employees' rights to freedom of association, the spokeswoman added.
Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union (FTU) at Sabrina, told Reuters news agency the injured had included a woman who was two months pregnant and who had lost her child after military police pushed her to the ground.
Running shoes
According to the International Monetary Fund, garments accounted for 75 percent of Cambodia's total exports of $5.22bn in 2011.
Low-cost labour has attracted manufacturers making clothes and shoes for Western brands but strikes over pay and working conditions have become common.
This month, two workers were killed at a factory making running shoes for Asics when part of a warehouse fell in on them.
A series of deadly incidents at factories in Bangladesh, including the collapse of a building last month that killed more than 1,000 people, has focused global attention on safety in factories in
I knew Nike despised women when they kept that loathsome rapist Kobe Bryant as a spokesperson; well before I knew they abused their foreign workers. But if I hadn't already quit buying their products, I would do so now after reading this.
ReplyDeleteIf only these poor workers knew how much brainwashed Americans pay for a single garment with a swoosh. I never buy anything with a logo, except maybe for fruit of the loom (but the tag isn't on the outside either). They should change their motto to Just Screw It...whether it be the customer, the worker, or the world.
ReplyDeleteSo! Do they hate Nike, or they hate our FREEDOM?
ReplyDeleteMethink the scum called Nike!
In the 1980's we witnessed the same in Korea and we arriving at Seoul airport a French woman and a German who never met before went to the Korean police and told them to fuck off.
ReplyDeleteSo all those black ath-a-letes getting money from nike are profiting from SLAVERY.
ReplyDelete