Dismissed Kasogi workers demand severance pay<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
More than 1,500 workers, who were dismissed by shoe firm PT
\nKasogi Internasional tbk last July, descended again on the East
\nJava legislative council building in Surabaya on Monday, pressing
\nahead with their demand for severance pay.<\/p>\n
They lashed out at the 1999-2004 elected members of the
\ncouncil for not being serious in helping them fight for their
\nrights.<\/p>\n
The protesters marched from Jl. Diponegoro to the council
\nbuilding located on Jl. Indrapura, causing traffic jams in
\nseveral areas.<\/p>\n
Arriving at the council, the demonstrators immediately entered
\nthe compound and staged a rally against the shoe company located
\nin the neighboring city of Sidoarjo.<\/p>\n
The protesting workers demanded that the new legislative
\ncouncil order the Sidoarjo manpower office to summon PT Kasogi
\npresident director Riswandi Hendarta in order to pay them
\nseverance payments.<\/p>\n
\"Riswandi has ignored the law. He should therefore be taken to
\ncourt,\" shouted a protester.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators also urged the council, which was
\ninaugurated earlier this month, to press PT Kasogi to drop its
\nlawsuit against the labor dispute settlement committee of the
\nSidoarjo manpower office.<\/p>\n
The company sued the committee for ordering it to pay the
\ndismissed workers one month's salary in severance pay in addition
\nto 50 percent of the amount of their unpaid salaries for three
\nmonths since July.<\/p>\n
The protesters threatened to occupy the council building,
\nshould their demands continue to be ignored by legislators or the
\nshoe company.<\/p>\n
They also said they would not hesitate to prosecute the new
\ncouncillors if they were not serious in helping them overcome
\ntheir plight.<\/p>\n
Monday was the fifth protest by the same workers who have been
\nstruggling for severance pay since they were dismissed by PT
\nKasogi in July.<\/p>\n
PT Kasogi officials have said that, due to financial problems,
\ntheir company could not afford to pay a total of 20 billion
\n(US$2.2 million) in severance pay for around 2,100 dismissed
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
\"It's very difficult to abide by the committee's decision
\nbecause the company is already bankrupt,\" Riswandi told a hearing
\nwith local councillors, manpower officials and workers'
\nrepresentatives on Sept. 16.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dismissed-kasogi-workers-demand-severance-pay-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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