About 1,000 garment workers in Kandal province who have been striking over benefits since Monday blocked the road in front of their factory Wednesday because managers failed to meet their demands, police and a representative of the workers said.
Employees of the Now Corp. factory blocked the road in Ang Snuol district for about an hour before authorities threatened to use force if they did not disperse, said Phuong Leakhena, a secretary for the Worker Friendship Union Federation.
“Tomorrow, representatives of the workers and the authorities will meet to find a solution,” he said. “If we cannot find a solution, we will block the road again.”
The factory has agreed to eight of the workers’ 12 demands, but is refusing other requests, including a nursery for workers’ children and a daily $1 lunch allowance. Provincial police chief Iv Chamroeun said officers threatened the workers because their protest had caused a traffic jam.
“We asked them to disperse, and if they hadn’t, we would have used the law to break them up.”
