About 50 workers from the D&C Mall construction site on Street 313 in Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak II commune in Phnom Penh started protesting on Monday and are demanding three months of unpaid wages from the building’s owner. Hong Menea
About 50 workers from the D&C Mall construction site on Street 313 in Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak II commune in Phnom Penh started protesting on Monday and are demanding three months of unpaid wages from the building’s owner.
The site’s worker supervisor Roeun Chan, who joined the protest, told The Post on Tuesday that workers had been patient until they protested because the owner kept postponing their payment and used the pandemic as an excuse.
Chan said: “For the past two months, we have continued to work even when hungry, believing the words of the owner, who claimed that Covid-19 had thrown the company into a financial crisis.
“The company said it would pay workers late but promised to pay soon. However, it has been three months that the owner has not given a single cent to the company or its workers.”
The D&C Mall is 90 per cent complete and projected to be ready within two or three months.
But work has stopped since the unpaid employees have decided to demand their wages, Chan said.
The workers said they would file complaints to local authorities and other related authorities requesting intervention on their behalf.
The workers’ representative Tri Ey Neang told The Post their wages ranged from $9 to $15 per day depending on their skill.
Employees who work overtime and on holidays receive double wages.
Ey Neang said: “Most workers are hungry now because the owner of the building did not pay the construction contractor as promised, so the contractor does not have money to pay the workers.
“Workers in all departments agreed not to work until there is a solution regarding their overdue salaries,” she said.
The workers started protesting on Monday and continued on Tuesday.
She said the workers need money soon to support their families during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building site manager Te Bun Hour told The Post that the building owner did not respond to their request as yet.
District authorities advised the workers to file complaints to the district administration, and include the contract stating their daily wages as this will help solve the dispute.
Bun Hour said the workers also plan on filing a complaint with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.
