"Sihanoukville casino employees protest over wages", 5 February 2020

Hundreds of employees of a Chinese-owned casino in Preah Sihanouk province’s Sihanoukville protested over unpaid wages ... after the management announced it was shuttering operations.

The employees protested outside the Changcheng casino in Buon commune ... before the provincial labour department intervened and organised negotiations between them and casino representatives.

A casino manager, who declined to be named, said the owner decided to close operations due to fears of infection of Novel Coronavirus, following the recent detection in a 60-year-old Chinese national in Sihanoukville.

Men Sreyma, 22, a poker card dealer who joined the protest ..., said a contract between the company and employees stipulates that the company should pay monthly wages on the 5th of each month.

“We cannot accept what the company did [closing down] because it is failing to follow the agreement to pay the employees today,” she said. “The owners are using the Novel Coronavirus as an excuse to delay paying the wages.”...

“I think the company may be bankrupt and are using a trick like this,” she said. “We will not stop protesting until it resolves the wage issue.”

... According to the minutes of the hour long negotiations, the company has decided to terminate the contracts of all 277 employees and have agreed to pay the last salary due.

The minutes noted that the provincial labor department official Phan Vutha, who attended the negotiations, is withholding the passport of the company’s chief accountant Chen Congle and will return it when all 277 employees have received their wages...