Thousands of workers protest in Surabaya<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): In one of the country's largest protests in
\nrecent months, some 30,000 industrial workers took to the streets
\nhere on Tuesday to demand higher wages.<\/p>\n
Some protesters overturned vehicles belonging to provincial
\ngovernment officials, including the deputy chief of the
\nprovincial planning agency, Syahrazad Masdar, and looted them.<\/p>\n
Police made at least one arrest but the violence was quickly
\ncontained, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
The workers came from household equipment producer PT Maspion
\nand shoemakers PT Fortune and PT Cahaya Cemerlang as well as
\nother factories in Sidoarjo, an industrial town outside the East
\nJava capital.<\/p>\n
The demonstration capped four days of protest over low pay.<\/p>\n
Union leaders said they were protesting a recently passed
\nordinance which set a lower minimum wage than in other towns in
\nthe province.<\/p>\n
Following negotiation between the workers' representatives and
\nDeputy Governor Imam Supardi, the local government agreed to the
\nprotester's demands and provisionally raised the town's minimum
\nmonthly wage from Rp 328,300 to Rp 330,700.<\/p>\n
At least two companies of riot police and one water cannon
\nwere deployed on Tuesday to disperse the protesters.<\/p>\n
The protests started at about 9 a.m. on Tuesday when factory
\nworkers began to gather in front of their respective factories.<\/p>\n
They then moved in a convoy to the governor's office on Jl.
\nPahlawan. The protests caused a massive traffic jam in the city.<\/p>\n
East Java Governor Imam Utomo was quoted as saying later on
\nTuesday that those responsible for the trouble should be
\narrested.<\/p>\n
\"The workers should be held responsible for the incident,\"
\nImam said.<\/p>\n
Some provincial officials were also quoted as saying that
\nTuesday's incident had marred the holy Ramadhan fasting month.<\/p>\n
The government has announced that official monthly minimum
\nwage levels in eight provinces outside Java will rise by an
\naverage of about 30 percent as of Jan. 1, 2001. Increases in the
\nother provinces are still being negotiated. (nur)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thousands-of-workers-protest-in-surabaya-1447893297",
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