Local Governor Accused in Shooting of Cambodian Footwear Strikers

The 20 February shooting at strikers – mainly women – of the KaoWay Sports Ltd. footwear factory in Bavet, Svey Rieng province, Cambodia, appears to have been committed by the governor of Bavet region, Chhouk Bandith. Three women were shot and seriously wounded after a man dressed in police-style khakis got out of a vehicle and began firing at people.

The factory produces shoes primarily for the German apparel company Puma. According to ITGLWF affiliate, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), thousands of the 6,000 employed at the factory engaged in strike action on 17-18 February. When strikes resumed on 20 February, Chhouk Bandith allegedly jumped out of a Lexus 470 with a bodyguard and a policeman after exiting the factory and fired shots from a high-power gun equipped with silencer.

After firing, he fled in a Toyota Camry and truckloads of police moved in to quell disbelieving and angry strikers. Police have questioned Chhouk Bandith, and C.CAWDU believes he was held for three days, but has since been released.

The entire incident, occurring about 09h00, was captured by a KaoWay factory security camera. Puma has been conducting its own investigation since the outset, together with an NGO.

Buot Chinda, 21, was shot through the chest with bullets that narrowly missed her heart and severely punctured her lung. She was near death, but now is in stable but serious condition at a Phnom Penh hospital. The two other women who were shot and injured are Keo Neth, 18, and Nuth Sakhorn, 23.

A senior ILO official who monitors a programme called Better Factories Cambodia, said in press comments, “It doesn’t look good for Cambodia when this type of violence is concerned.”

Puma’s shoe workers, employed by Taiwanese-based KaoWay, were striking over better transport and food allowances, and better pay and conditions overall. Due to the industrial action – and Puma’s rapid response to the random violence – the strike has ended and all workers’ demands have been met in full.

The strike and shootings had a different scenario at a separate Cambodian dispute, this one at Singapore-based Medtecs, a health textiles and apparel maker located in Kampong Siem district, some 125 kilometres from Bavet. While 2,000 strikers pelted the factory with rocks, police at the scene were unarmed and at stand-down because of the KaoWay shootings.

The Medtecs strike was over the company failing to live up to decisions handed down by a binding Arbitration Council. It has been resolved due to the strike action.