Almost the entire staff of the Monorom Holiday Villa Hotel walked off the job Tuesday and said they will not go back until their demands are addressed.
The hotel’s general manager, meanwhile, said he will welcome them back at any time, as long as the strike leader agrees to follow company policy.
It was unclear Tuesday whether the strike will continue today.
The strike erupted early Tuesday when 53 of the hotel’s 60 workers walked out after Leng Bonna was suspended with pay from her job as government liaison officer. The hotel is owned by the city of Phnom Penh.
As workers picketed in front of the hotel, police confiscated tires they had planned to set ablaze to call attention to their demands.
According to a suspension notice signed by hotel General Manager Chris Ho, Leng Bonna was suspended for failing to follow company procedures.
Leng Bonna had helped circulate a petition asking the hotel management to correct three problems: failure to pay the employees service charges or performance bonuses, abusive language by supervisors and hygiene problems in the staff canteen.
Ho’s letter to Leng Bonna said she should have told management about the problems before circulating the petition, and she was suspended for “ignoring the normal chain of command of which you are well aware for the airing of grievances, complaints and requests.”
Ho said later Tuesday that he is prepared to welcome the strikers back. “I will forget everything, but the leader must follow company policy, because our company is very big, and it is good policy.”
