Labor Disputes In China'S Clothing Industry Are Being Replicated In East Asia.

Labor disputes in China are being duplicated in East Asia, and factories that compete with China and supply low cost goods are facing employee stoppage. These employees demand better pay and benefits.

In Kampuchea, workers are preparing for a three day strike against the minimum wage dispute.

In Vietnam, thousands of workers in a Taiwanese shoe factory recently went on strike to ask for a pay rise. A series of violent demonstrations in recent days in Bangladesh resulted from low wages.

These disputes are similar to similar actions in China.

In China, the growing discontent among workers has led to labour disputes and raises wages.

As a result, foreign factory owners are increasingly moving production from Southern China and East China (long regarded as "world factory") to inland China and other developing countries in Asia.

Labor costs in Kampuchea, Vietnam and Laos are still far below those in China.

But despite the fact that the governments of these countries are competing to attract overseas manufacturers, trade unions are keen to protect their members, so the labour action and minimum wage in the region are on the rise.

The minimum wage in Kampuchea ranks among the lowest in the world. The average clothing workers in this country earn 50 dollars a month plus 6 dollars in living allowance.

The government of Kampuchea has proposed a raise of $5, but the free trade union (FreeTradeUnion), representing more than 8 000 workers, still intends to strike unless the minimum wage increases to $70.

The Vietnamese government has raised the minimum wage of foreign-funded workers to 1 million Dong Dong (US $52.50) this year.

In Laos, the minimum wage has been raised from 290 thousand Kip (35 US dollars) to 348 thousand Kip ($42) last year.

JohnRitchotte, John of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said there were relatively more active trade unions in Kampuchea, and most of the workers in the garment factories were represented by trade unions. (JohnRitchotte)

But he pointed out that labor disputes in Southeast Asia are not uncommon.

"Even those countries without independent trade unions, such as Vietnam and Laos, will have labour disputes, especially in the period of high inflation," he said.

"Over the past five years, the number of disputes has increased significantly."

Nevertheless, Kampuchea's open business environment (100% wholly owned by foreign investors) is expected to attract more and more foreign investment.

According to the Ministry of Commerce of Kampuchea, 290 new foreign-funded enterprises registered in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 56% over the same period last year.

In Bangladesh, there have been a series of violent demonstrations recently caused by low wages. Bangladesh has over 4500 garment factories. Clothing is one of the main sources of income for poor countries.

Earlier, after several days of violent struggle in an industrial suburb outside the capital, hundreds of factory owners closed the factory on the grounds of "panic and anarchy".

On the second day, nearly 1000 riot police were sent to protect the safety and the factories were restarted.

Bangladesh garment factory workers made garments for some western famous brands such as WAL-MART (Wal-Mart) and H&M. They asked to increase their monthly salary to at least 5000 Taka, and their current monthly income is only 25 dollars.

The Bangladesh government has indicated that it will increase wages for the 3 million garment workers in the country by the end of July, and that they will be patient.

In Bangladesh, exports of clothing accounted for almost 80% of last year's exports of $15 billion 560 million, and nearly 40% of the country's industrial workforce was garment workers.

Retailers in France, including Car-refour and Levi 's, wrote to Bangladesh prime minister in January this year, demanding a full salary increase for workers.