PT Maspion meets striking workers' demands<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two weeks of daily labor protests in Sidoarjo,
\nnear the East Java capital of Surabaya, has forced the management
\nof PT Maspion electronics and plastic manufacturer to raise
\nallowances as demanded by its workers.<\/p>\n
Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards
\nSyaufii Syamsuddin said here on Thursday that after intensive
\nnegotiations organized by the East Java Ministry of Manpower on
\nWednesday, the management agreed to raise workers' transportation
\nallowance to Rp 6,500 a month from Rp 1,500 and meal allowance to
\nRp 2,000 from Rp 1,000 a day.<\/p>\n
\"All workers have returned to the factory, and there's no
\nstrike today (Thursday),\" he told the media at his office on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
More than 20,000 Maspion workers staged a series of violent
\nrallies in Sidoardjo over the past two weeks to air their
\ndemands. On Wednesday, several strikers and security personnel
\nwere injured in a scuffle.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday, Syaufii said the recent dismissal of
\ntemporary workers of private TV station RCTI could not be upheld
\nas it was against the 1964 law on worker dismissal.<\/p>\n
\"I will handle the case after receiving official complaints
\nfrom the dismissed workers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The law stipulates that companies must obtain permission from
\na provincial Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4D)
\nif it wishes to fire between two and nine workers, and permission
\nfrom the Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes
\n(P4P) if it wishes to dismiss 10 or more workers.<\/p>\n
Christina Rini Yuliarti, a lawyer from the Indonesian Legal
\nAid Foundation (YLBHI), concurred and said she was ready to
\nrepresent the dismissed workers in a lawsuit against the
\nmanagement.<\/p>\n
\"The one-sided dismissal is invalid because it is against the
\nlaw,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Dozens of RCTI contract employees lodged complaints with the
\nYLBHI early this week over their dismissal, demanding the
\nmanagement reemploy them.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris said his office
\nwould investigate a reported insurance scam by national airline
\nPT Garuda Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We will investigate the case thoroughly,\" he said here on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of more than 3,000 dismissed workers of Garuda
\nIndonesia lodged complaints with the ministry on Wednesday over
\nthe alleged scam by the Garuda management.<\/p>\n
Hamdani Aziz, chairman of the newly established Communications
\nForum for Retired Garuda Employees (FKPGA) told The Jakarta Post
\non Thursday that hundreds of employees recently dismissed by
\nGaruda had been paid much smaller pensions by state-owned PT
\nJamsostek than were entitled to.<\/p>\n
\"Many others have also complained that their wages were cut
\nmonthly by a certain amount for the insurance program but they
\nhad never been registered in the insurance program,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to a 1992 law on social security, workers are
\nrequired to pay 4 percent of their monthly wage in premiums for
\nthe pension fund program. (rms\/nur)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pt-maspion-meets-striking-workers-demands-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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