Nearly 100 workers from the Chung Fai knitwear factory came to protest in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to demand a court injunction to sell factory property after the owner absconded without paying them.

Choun Kiri, a representative of the workers, said they were worried their salaries would not be paid. The workers – who were last paid in May - have been guarding the equipment in the Meanchey district factory since early July, hoping the assets can be sold to pay their salaries.

“We stay all day and night at the factory, because we are afraid the property will be sold,” Kiri explained. “We worry about our safety when we spend the night at the factory to protect the equipment.”

Pav Sina, president of the Workers’ Movement Union, said: “After the employer ran away, the factory went bankrupt and there is no responsibility to pay the workers.”

Yesterday’s was the workers’ second protest at the court in the past week.

Kiri said she had been told by a court official that an injunction was being prepared.