More than 1,000 Cambodian workers from a footwear factory in the capital Phnom Penh staged a protest on Friday after they failed to reach an agreement with management over the amount of severance pay they will receive for refusing to relocate to a new facility, those involved in the matter said.
Workers blocked a road during the protest because they say the business owners want to close down the factory and relocate it to a new location on the outskirts of the city — a move that the employees strongly oppose because it would be more difficult for them to get to work from their homes and their children’s schools.
An employee who declined to be named told RFA’s Khmer Service that workers have demanded U.S. $300 severance pay, though factory management decided to give them only U.S. $80.
