According to the Vietnam Economic Times website,

Vietnam's footwear association secretary general Ruan Shi Cong said that at present, Vietnam

Supplement:

The wage surge began to spread across the globe.

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 demand a pay rise. A series of violent demonstrations in Bangladesh recently 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.

John Lee Choate Ritchotte 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. (John)

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."