Cambodian workers march in capital on Int'l Labor Day

Approximately 1,000 Cambodian workers came to streets here on Sunday to mark the 130th International Labor Day, calling for pay rise and better working conditions, a union representative said.

Marchers, mostly from garment and footwear industry, held banners and walked to the National Assembly in order to submit a petition.

"Our petition is to call for the government to raise the minimum wage for garment and footwear workers to 207 U.S. dollars per month,"said Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, who led the rally.

Currently, the minimum wage for garment workers is 140 U.S. dollars.

The 7-billion-U.S.-dollars garment and footwear industry is the kingdom's largest foreign currency earner. The sector is comprised of 1,007 factories with some 754,000 workers.

To mark the day, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday made a visit to the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in coastal Preah Sihanouk province where he met with more than 1,300 port staff and workers.

Source: XINHUA