MORE than 2,000 workers at Dangkor district’s Berry Apparel Co Ltd factory staged a strike yesterday to demand an immediate bump in their wages.

The Labour Advisory Committee last week approved what amounted to an US$11 increase in the minimum wage for garment workers that is set to go into effect in October. But protesters yesterday said they could not wait that long, and demanded that the increase be implemented in August.

Chhun Sok Hy, factory president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said landlords who rent to workers had already raised fees in response to the approved wage hike. “House owners disagree to wait until October,” he said.

Factory administration chief Bath Bel said the factory would stick with the government’s timeline.