Thousands of workers protest at Cambodia factory that makes Nike clothing

sportswear company Nike, refusing to give up their campaign for higher pay despite a crackdown by police this week.

At least 23 people were injured on Monday when police with riot gear and stun batons were deployed to disperse about 3,000 workers, most of them women, who had blocked a road outside the factory owned by Sabrina Cambodia Garment Manufacturing in Kampong Speu province, west of the capital, Phnom Penh.

A trade union representative claimed that a woman who was two months pregnant lost her child after military police pushed her to the ground. Military police spokesman Kheng Tito, however, said the claim was false and denied that his men had been violent. He said some police officers had been hurt by workers throwing stones.

The workers walked out on strike on May 21. Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union (FTU) at Sabrina, said about 4,000 workers were expected to join the protest on Thursday.

"We will continue the strike to demand what they want," Vanny said, adding that union representatives had been invited for talks on Wednesday but no agreement had been reached.

"We want to know why violence was used against the woman and workers, we want to know who hired these officers to come," he added, referring to Monday's clash.

A Nike spokeswoman in the United States told Reuters by email on [url=http://www.2015nikeblackfriday.org/nike-air-max-90-c-26/nike-air-max-90-wom... Air Max 90 Womens Monday that the company was "concerned" about the allegations that workers had been hurt and was investigating. Nike requires contract manufacturers to respect employees' rights to freedom of association, the spokeswoman added.

Hong Luy, chief of administration for Sabrina Cambodia, said the company could not afford to raise workers' pay. She said workers made up to $102 a month and the strike had [url=http://www.2015nikeblackfriday.org]Nike Black Friday Deals forced the factory to shut down until Friday.

Many Western brands, attracted by cheap labor, have turned to Asia to get their garments made at a cost that will make them attractive [url=http://www.2015nikeblackfriday.org/nike-air-max-2015-c-18/nike-air-max-2015... Air Max 2015 Womens[/url] to customers in the troubled economies of Europe and North America.

A series of deadly incidents at factories in Bangladesh, the world's biggest clothing exporter after China, including the collapse of a building last month that killed more than 1,100 people, has focused the world's attention on safety standards.

Strikes over pay and working conditions have become common in Cambodia, where garments accounted for 75 percent of total exports of $5.22 billion in 2011, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Earlier this month, two people were killed at a factory producing running shoes for Asics when part of a warehouse fell in on them. A union representative had initially said six people were killed in that accident.