More than 200 Phnom Penh garment workers blocked the road in front of the Ministry of Labour yesterday until officials accepted their petition for assistance.

Strikers from Huey Chuen garment factory first marched their petition to the National Assembly, but security guards soon moved them on, National Trade Union Confederation (NTUC) president Fa Saly said. They walked to the Labour Ministry after.

“The workers are not happy with the authorities since they did not help them find a resolution,” Saly explained yesterday.

“Workers then blocked the main road in front of the Labour Ministry for about 30 minutes until officials came out and promised to find a resolution.”

Workers are demanding that Huey Chuen pay out seniority benefits, reinstate a fired co-worker and also rehire the roughly 200 people they fired for ignoring a court order to return to work, Saly said.

Vong Sovann, deputy secretary general of the ministry’s Committee for the Settlement of Strikes and Demonstrations, yesterday said that he will call for negotiation sessions between worker and factory representatives.