Around 700 garment workers blocked National Road 4 in Por Sen Chey district on Monday in a protest to demand severance packages they claimed their factory owed them after it shut down.

The workers said Chim Li Cambodia Pte Ltd, which has since taken over and employed about 3,000 workers, had not provided the same benefits as the previous employer did.

Por Senchey district police chief Khem Saran said the workers started protesting from 8am to 12pm, causing traffic congestion for hours.

“They sat in the middle of the road, causing heavy traffic congestion but there was no confrontation between them and the motorists. We made sure the demonstration was peaceful,” he said.

Khorn Thavry, 35, who had worked at the factory for four years, said she received overtime wages of around $300 only.

“The factory wanted to pay us on August 22 but we rejected and filed a complaint to the Labour Ministry. Then we were paid on August 18 but the factory only paid a small sum.”