Dozns of construction workers in Oddar Meanchey province’s Trapaing Prasat district protested on Wednesday, demanding more than $7,000 in wages their company owed them.
The more than 30 workers were employed to construct a building at a sugarcane factory owned by Oknha Vinh Hour in O’Svay commune’s Peam village.
They alleged the company had made them work for a few months without pay, which amounts to $7,000.
Um Ret, 53, said she and the others relied on their meagre wages to support their families and pay off bank loans. So they needed the money to return home with.
“We came to work here to get money to pay off bank loans, but we have not been paid. Without the wages, we would have to sell our homes to pay off the debt,” she said.
Hour said a contractor named Phan was responsible for constructing the building at his sugarcane factory and paying the workers.
He said he had already instructed Phan to disburse $7,000 for them. “It’s not that I refused to pay. Phan had already received the money from me. I blame him for not paying the workers,” Hour said.
