At least three striking garment workers were wounded by gunshots Monday
while protesting outside their factory in southeastern Cambodia. The factory is Taiwanese-owned and makes footwear for the Puma brand, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper. Puma said Tuesday in a statement that it will send staff members to investigate a
shooting.
The shooting occurred Monday in southeastern Svay Rieng province, when a gunman opened fire on nearly 1,000 workers from three different factories protesting for better working conditions. The gunman escaped from the scene, despite a police presence.
The three wounded women were employees of the Kaoway Sports Ltd. factory, located in the Manhattan Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Bavet city.
“Puma has stepped up its resources in the country, with senior executives investigating the circumstances of the incident,” Puma said in its statement. The statement added that a Puma official would accompany a rights group to discuss the event with one of the injured workers.
Puma also said it would host meetings with government and non-governmental organizations as well as trade unions on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss workers' grievances in order to ensure their safety and well being.
A separate statement released by Puma on Feb. 20 quoted a Kaoway Sport Ltd. as saying that the factory complied with Cambodian labor laws and regulations regarding wages.
The statement said the shooting occurred as protesting workers congregated in an area outside the Kaoway plant and adjacent to the Kingmaker and Sheico factories.
Local rights groups said protesters had been demanding that management of the zone's three factories raise their monthly wages by U.S. $10 per month to U.S. $71.
