Striking workers at a Por Sen Chey garment factory trying to march to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s home were blocked by police yesterday.

Hundreds of employees at Ocean Garment factory gathered in front of Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning, planning to march to Hun Sen’s home and demand intervention in their dispute.

About 1,300 began protesting on May 24, when management announced that the factory would close for a month and that workers would be paid $15 that month.

“[To] comply with the regulations of the capital, we banned the march, because it could have caused traffic jams,” Military Police spokesman Kheng Tito said in a text message.

Strikers, who demand full salaries during the break, were previously blocked from marching from their factory to the Labour Ministry on June 3.

Negotiations overseen by the ministry yesterday bore no resolution, said Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers.