More than 100 cleaners employed by Cambodia Airports walked off the job at Phnom Penh International Airport on Monday and protested outside the terminal’s entrance after their request last week for higher salaries went unanswered, a union official said.
“In the afternoon, more than 100 cleaners protested at Pochentong Airport when the airport did not [respond] to their request,” said Tuon Saren, a coordinator at the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, which organized the strike.
“The workers want veteran staff to get $138 [per month] and new staff to get $128, because they want an increase like the garment workers,” he said.
Mr. Saren explained that cleaners with less than five years’ experience currently receive $90 per month, while those with more than five years’ experience are paid $110.
On January 1, the government increased garment workers’ base monthly salaries from $100 to $128.
Cambodia Airports spokesman Khek Norinda said Monday that the company did not directly employ the striking staff.
“We subcontract the cleaning of some parts of the airport to a company. The janitors are their personnel not ours,” he said in an email.
