N. Sumatra tobacco workers threaten boycott over pay<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
Protesting plantation workers in North Sumatra have threatened
\nto block an upcoming tobacco auction if their state-owned
\nemployer does not increase wages.<\/p>\n
About 21,000 employees of PT Perkebunan Nasional (PTPN) II
\nhave accused the firm of paying less than the legal minimum wage.<\/p>\n
More than 800 workers staged a rally on Wednesday at the
\nBenteng ground in the provincial capital of Medan to demand
\nbetter payment.<\/p>\n
The protesters, from the regencies of Medan, Langkat and Deli
\nSerdang, are paid Rp 279,000 each per month, though the
\nprovincial government set the minimum wage last November at Rp
\n464,000 per month.<\/p>\n
Union leader Josem Ginting said if PTPN did not raise wages,
\nthe employees would join with German workers to boycott a tobacco
\nauction planned for May in Bremen, Germany.<\/p>\n
\"We have coordinated with an alliance of labor groups in
\nGermany to boycott the Deli tobacco auction if the demand by PTPN
\nII's workers is not fulfilled,\" Josem, leader of the firm's
\nMerdeka (independent) union, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Josem is being tried in the Medan District Court for allegedly
\nbeating a PTPN employee on November 16, 2000 while organizing a
\nprotest.<\/p>\n
He said the protesters would step up demonstrations to keep
\nthe pressure for wage rises on PTPN.<\/p>\n
He said the union's demands for higher wages had been rejected
\nat several meetings with the company's directors since 2000.<\/p>\n
Paiman, 42, a PTPN worker from Langkat, said he received Rp
\n250,000 in take-home pay each month, after insurance and other
\nlevies were taken out.<\/p>\n
He said the low wage made it difficult for his family to
\nsurvive. \"I often owe money to friends or others to cover the
\nlack of my family's living cost,\" Paiman said. \"Life is so bitter
\nto me.\"<\/p>\n
Head of the North Sumatra manpower and transmigration office
\nA. Aziz Zein Gumay said PTPN was breaching labor laws.<\/p>\n
Aziz threatened to punish PTPN if it failed to comply with
\nminimum wages, and promised to conduct a financial audit of the
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
Aziz told the Post that the matter was being handled by his
\noffice's labor dispute settlement committee.<\/p>\n
\"We will sanction the PTPN II if it does not pay the workers
\nin line with the province's set wage.\"<\/p>\n
Head of PTPN's human relations division, Legino, denied the
\ncompany had broken the law.<\/p>\n
But he refused to explain why the workers were paid less than
\nthe official wage. \"It's the authority of the company's board of
\ndirectors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Legino said the workers received several allowances, including
\nfood, electricity and housing, on top of their pay packets.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/n-sumatra-tobacco-workers-threaten-boycott-over-pay-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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