A branch of the Belgium-based Foreign Trade Association (FTA) last week praised the Cambodian government’s raising of the country’s garment sector wage, as labour advocates called the $28 raise a time-biding technique.

In a statement on Thursday, the FTA’s Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) welcomed the wage hike, calling the raise from $100 per month to $128 a good move after a year of unrest.

“It represents a positive step to improving conditions,” the statement says. “BSCI participants expect that the factories they source from respect the right of the workers to receive a wage that is sufficient to provide them with a decent living.”

FTA members include brands such as Adidas and Puma.

But Dave Welsh, country director for labour rights group the Solidarity Center, yesterday said organisations like FTA should lobby for a living wage, which a government study found to be between $155 and $177.

“There may be industrial peace for a quarter, maybe longer; then the [issue] will be revved up again,” Welsh said.