Trash Collectors’ Strike to Continue Into Third Day

Hundreds of workers at Phnom Penh’s only trash-collection firm, Cintri, have vowed to continue striking today for higher wages and shorter work days after negotiations failed to resolve the dispute Tuesday.

Mom Sarorn, president of the Trade Union Federation for Increasing Khmer Employees Lifestyles, said 90 percent of Cintri’s 1,000-plus employees went on strike Monday and that the rest joined them Tuesday.

A woman walks past a large pile of trash outside Phsar Kabko in Phnom Penh's Chamkar Mon district Tuesday. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily )
A woman walks past a large pile of trash outside Phsar Kabko in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district Tuesday. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily )

While street cleaners Tuesday agreed to go back to work after accepting a $10 raise, bringing their monthly salaries to $105, trash collectors are holding out for salary increases of up to $45, which would see them earn $150 a month. Truck drivers are demanding $300 a month.

As garbage piled up on city streets Tuesday, about 100 Cintri staff joined a rally outside the company’s depot in Dangkao district while union leaders, management and City Hall representatives continued discussions inside.

“The workers say they will not go back to work if the company does not respond to everything they want,” Mr. Sarorn said.

Cintri senior manager Seng Bunrith said the company could not afford to meet the workers’ demands but added that talks would resume Wednesday.

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