About 150 striking workers from a Japanese-owned garment factory in Svay Rieng province yesterday ended a nearly 10-day work stoppage after marching to the provincial hall and negotiating with factory officials.

Workers at Nissey Factory in the Bavet Special Economic Zone made 16 demands, including an end to forced overtime and allowing workers to eat lunch at the factory, worker representative Pich Khemara said.

Nissey workers had previously filed a petition to the provincial hall for assistance but to no avail, Khemara added.

"We filed a petition once, but they turned a deaf ear . . . So we had to file it one more time to remind officials at provincial hall".

When the group marched on the hall and filed the petition yesterday, officials summoned employees and employer representatives to hash out their dispute.

Not all of the workers’ demands were met, but enough headway was made for them to agree to return to work, said Chea Oudom, a Svay Rieng representative of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers.

Factory representatives could not be reached yesterday.

Svay Rieng Provincial Governor Cheang Am applauded both sides for their ability to reach a compromise, and asked that unions support such negotiations. . . and not pose obstacles to investors.