Thousands of staff of the Grand Twins garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district protested Tuesday claiming they had been swindled out of stipends and demanding better overtime pay, according to representatives for the workers and police.
Soy Sreymom, a worker representative who has been at Grand Twins for 11 years, said the factory had changed names in 2008, circumventing its obligation to raise stipends and pay bonuses.
“We protest to demand that the factory provide senior staff with the appropriate wages and to ask them to add $8 to our [monthly transportation stipend of] $7,” she said.
“We will keep protesting until they meet our demands. If they don’t, we will march to the Ministry of Labor.”
District military police chief Chim Rithy confirmed that “thousands” of people had protested outside the factory.
Noun Raksmey, another worker, said staff also wanted overtime rates raised and a lunch stipend introduced.
In June, Grand Twins, which supplies sportswear giant Adidas, became the second company to list on the Cambodian stock exchange.
