About 200 garment workers who began yesterday by striking outside their factory in the capital’s Dangkor district will return to work today after company officials acquiesced to their list of demands.

Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post

Workers from the New Pex garment factory protest outside the Vattanac Industrial Park 2 complex, in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, yesterday.

Ty Van, secretariat of the factory’s union, the Trade Union Cooperation of Cambodia,  said workers from the New Pex Co Ltd factory had gone on strike to secure the reinstatement of two union leaders who were unfairly dismissed earlier this month.

The union’s director, Ou Met, and vice-director, Mam Samnang, had been fired on February 2, a day after informing the factory’s administration about the creation of the union, Ty Van said.

She also said the factory had failed to acknowledge a list of demands that workers had delivered last week.

“The company did not negotiate with the workers, which they have been awaiting for a week. That’s why the workers went on strike,” Ty Vann said.

After the strike, Ministry of Labour officials instructed factory administration and union representatives to come to the negotiating table. After four hours of talks, the factory agreed to the union’s 12-point list of demands.

As well as calling for the reinstatement of the sacked union leaders, the list urged the administration not to discriminate against employees who were part of the union, to allow pregnant workers to end work 15 minutes early each day, and to cover the costs of medical care for all work-related accidents and injuries.

Ly Sopheap, chief of administration at the factory, said  the company had accepted the workers’ list of demands in order to end the dispute.

Var Yuvawathna, director of the Ministry of Labour’s resolution office, said that because the parties had reached an agreement, the striking workers, including the  dismissed union leaders, would return to work today.