Workers protest over severance pay<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Over 150 workers of the Tangerang-based spinning
\nfactory PT Putra Indah Makmur staged a protest at the Ministry of
\nManpower yesterday over the company's refusal to pay
\nseverance money in line with a proposal from the ministry.<\/p>\n
Asril, one of the protesters, told reporters that the
\nministry's Central Board for Labor Settlement recommended
\nrecently that the factory's management pay severance payment,
\namounting to six-months of salaries, to workers involved in a
\ndispute with the factory.<\/p>\n
"Instead of abiding by the proposal the management asked us to
\nresign with a severance pay of only three months of salaries," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Under the existing labor law, the workers should be paid for
\nthe last six months, during which time the conflict was processed
\nby the labor dispute settlement board. The company has to give an
\nadditional payment amounting to three months of salaries if the
\nworkers are fired.<\/p>\n
The workers, who have been laid off since July, 1993, refused
\nthe management's offer and launched a sit-in protest in front of
\nthe ministry's office yesterday, demanding that the factory
\ncomply with the board's decision.<\/p>\n
The protesters were later allowed to enter the building, where
\nthey were received by Iskandar, an official of the ministry.<\/p>\n
The workers said that, over the past 23 months, they have been
\nunder unclear status after the company handed their jobs over to
\na contractor.<\/p>\n
Ismanto, another protester, said the factory should choose one
\nof two possible alternatives: Employ them again, or fire them
\nwith severance pay amounting to nine months of salaries.<\/p>\n
He said it is better for the factory to formally fire them and
\ncomply with the board's proposal because most of the workers have
\nbeen employed in other companies.<\/p>\n
The prolonged conflict was initiated by the management's
\ndecision to remove the workers from the spinning division to
\nanother section. The contract workers refused to go on working at
\nthe new section because their daily income were sharply cut from
\nabout Rp 10,000 (US$4.54) to Rp 5,000. Their status has been
\nunclear since then because they were neither fired, nor given job
\norders.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the factory were not available for comment
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Riyaat, another protester, said the prolonged conflict had
\ndamaged the workers' lives.<\/p>\n
"Many fellow workers have been forced to divorce and many
\nothers have gone back to their hometowns because of quarrels that
\nhave resulted from the absence of
\nan income," he said. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-protest-over-severance-pay-1447893297",
"image": ""
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