More than 1,000 workers from the Maru Chuen garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district blocked the Veng Sreng road on the outskirts of Phnom Penh for half an hour yesterday, burning about 20 tyres and demanding a monthly minimum wage increase from $61 to $100 and other benefits.

According to Workers Union Federation officer Tha Tory, workers stopped blocking the road when district officials, eager for an end to the roadblock, facilitated negotiations between workers and the factory. When those negotiations failed, however, workers said they would block the road again today, for a longer time.

“We will do it until we have success,” Tory said.

Maru Chuen factory officials declined to comment yesterday.