Workers from the shuttered Turkish-owned Weibo factory at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone ended weeks of protests on February 1 after they were finally paid their last month’s salary, although security guards and drivers for the firm are still waiting for their paychecks.

“It’s finished, we paid all the workers,” a Weibo manager confirmed yesterday.

The guards and drivers will be paid after Chinese New Year, he said.

The factory, which ceased operations on January 9, had massive debts and initially failed to pay its workers their December salaries, sparking protests that saw the entrance to PPSEZ blocked several times.

But Weibo sold off its machinery and eventually paid the workers in two installments.

Kem Namhor, the head of the Cambodian Federation Voices of Worker Union, an outside union that aided workers during the dispute, said, however, some staff whose contracts ended in February still needed to be paid “even if they didn’t work.”

He said the union was considering court action.