Catherwood LibraryILR School

Labor unions throughout Southeast Asia are increasingly collaborating and sharing organizing and bargaining techniques to raise minimum wages for industrial workers. Unions are increasingly striking for better pay, particularly in Southeast Asia's massive garment manufacturing industry, and sharing tactics and strategies with labor activists in other countries, bringing more pressure to bear on companies to provide living wages. The region has for years been a prime target by Western corporations for outsourcing manufacturing work, and companies fear increased labor costs could squeeze profit margins. Union leaders counter that companies need to bear the responsibility for providing workers living wages and are not concerned with pricing themselves out of the outsourcing market.