More than 700 employees from the SH factory in the capital’s Choam Chao district continued with their seventh day of protest yesterday, as scuffles broke out among workers who wanted to return to the factory and others who wanted to continue the protest.

Investigator for the Free Trade Union Yan Roth Keopisey said three workers suffered minor injuries yesterday, in what he described as a clash between the strikers, employees who wanted to return to work and administration officials.

“Workers linked hand in hand to block the factory gate to prevent a handful of workers from going to work. Seng Srey Aun [a worker] was hit one time by an administration official,” the investigator said.

He added that after two hours of negotiations, the factory rejected the workers request again yesterday for better working conditions and pay.

Chief of the SH factory administration Un Sophoeun said about 100 workers wished to return to the factory yesterday, but were prevented from doing so by the strikers.

He said there were scuffles between workers, but denied that any administration officials were involved in physical altercations with those who were striking.

“The workers exaggerate that we used violence against them,” he said.

The Arbitration Council released a decision on Wednesday ordering the hundreds of striking workers from the factory to return to their daily work.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tep Nimol at [email protected]