Management at the Chhin Chin garment factory yesterday agreed to meet workers’ demands to receive their wages before the Pchum Ben holiday after a 150-worker demonstration briefly blocked National Road 4 in front of the factory.

Workers at the factory, which is located in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district, began demonstrating the previous day after management said it would pay workers half their salary in advance, rather than their entire month’s pay, said Va Sarorng, deputy chief of Por Sen Chey’s Choam Chao commune, who observed the negotiation.

“The workers need money … because the date they receive their salary is after Pchum Ben,” Sarorng said.

After a four-hour negotiation, management conceded to the early payment, Sarorng said.

Elsewhere in the capital, hundreds of workers at SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd gathered at one of the factory’s two Meanchey district locations, demonstrating for the first time since strikers clashed with military police hired to stand guard on Friday.

SL will remain closed all week while equipment damaged by strikers is being repaired, said Wong Hon Ming, SL’s owner.

Workers who were absent between September 1 and September 20 will receive half their salaries ahead of the Pchum Ben holiday. Employees who worked those days will receive their whole salary, plus a 50 per cent bonus.