"Workers walk out, protest unpaid benefits", 14 January 2021

Workers at two factories … staged protests … respectively to demand seniority payments and other benefits.

In Phnom Penh, more than 1,000 workers of Ying Hy Garment Co, Ltd, … protested after the factory delayed issuing their seniority payments again, allegedly breaking a promise made earlier this month.

Bronh Chanty, one of the protesting workers, said: “We demand the seniority payments for 2019 and 2020. The company had promised to give us the payments this year, citing the Covid-19 crisis as reason [for the delay].

“But now the factory has announced that it decided to delay the payments to workers indefinitely,” she said.

Separately in Pursat province…, nearly 5,000 factory workers of Taieasy International Co, Ltd, … protested … to demand seniority pay and annual leave compensation…

Kol Bunthoeun, acting director of the provincial Department of Labour and Vocational Training, told … that the workers’ claim for seniority payment was invalid because the labour ministry had already suspended it…

According to Bunthoeun, Taieasy International offered to pay compensation for the annual leave balance of the workers …, to which the workers agreed and decided to stop the protest.

Collective Union of Movement of Workers president Pav Sina told … that the protests are not against the law because the workers who face livelihood problems were asking the factories to consider giving them the benefits.

“I would like to request factories which are able to pay seniority payments or severance pay to do so in order to prevent workers from protesting…,” he said…