Labor protest hits Batam amid election campaign<\/p>\n
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau<\/p>\n
Around 1,600 workers of PT Foster Electric Indonesia staged a
\nprotest on the industrial island of Batam, Riau province, on
\nThursday to demand the increase of their salaries.<\/p>\n
Amid the three-week campaign period for the legislative
\nelection on April 5, involving 24 political parties, the protest
\nwas the biggest to hit the island this year.<\/p>\n
The striking workers commenced their protest at around 8 a.m.,
\ndemanding that the management raise their salaries and
\nallowances.<\/p>\n
The workers said they were paid only Rp 500,000 (US$58.8) a
\nmonth, while the Batam authorities had set the city's minimum
\nwage at Rp 602,000 per month.<\/p>\n
The protesters also demanded that the sound-system company pay
\nthem transportation, food and housing allowances as recommended
\nby Manpower Law No. 13\/2003.<\/p>\n
They said the management should provide female workers with
\ntwo days leave for menstruation or Rp 25,000 a day for those who
\ndid not take the leave.<\/p>\n
Protester Hendra Giri said the demands had been put to the
\ncompany last February but the workers had not received a
\nsatisfactory response.<\/p>\n
The current salaries, Hendra explained, were not sufficient to
\ncover the workers' daily expenses, including rent and
\ntransportation fees. He said that most workers had to borrow
\nmoney to pay for their basic needs.<\/p>\n
\"We know that our company has received many orders. This is
\nproven by the fact that we have to work overtime for up to 50
\nhours per month,\" Hendra said.<\/p>\n
He said the protesters would continue striking until their
\ndemands were heeded by the management.<\/p>\n
During the protest, inside the factory compound many workers
\nwere observed singing. Others sat about idly, although they had
\nclocked in.<\/p>\n
The company's human resources manager, Erwan Effendi, said PT
\nFoster could not afford to pay the workers more due to its
\nfinancial problems.<\/p>\n
The decision was made during a meeting between the management
\nand representatives of the workers at the Batam manpower office
\nin mid-February, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We conveyed the result of the meeting to the workers: that
\nthe company is not yet able to meet their demands. We will try to
\nconvince them to stop striking,\" Erwan added.<\/p>\n
Batam manpower office head Pirma Marpaung admitted he was
\nsurprised by the scale of the protest considering that the
\ngovernment was trying to resolve the problem amicably.<\/p>\n
\"We will continue to approach them, so that they will agree to
\novercome this problem in the proper manner,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/labor-protest-hits-batam-amid-election-campaign-1447893297",
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