Workers return home as Tyfountex bows to demands<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of 850 laid-off workers of a Central
\nJava-based textile company started heading back to their hometown of
\nKartosuro on Friday night shortly after their firm agreed to
\nreemploy them and raise their salaries, one of their leaders said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The workers, who had sought help from organizations here since
\nMonday, hoped their company, PT Tyfountex Indonesia, would keep
\nto the new agreement, said Abdul Latief, one of the group's
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
They were provided with 12 buses by the Ministry of Manpower
\nfor their return.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a media conference at the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nFoundation office here, Abdul said the firm's lawyers had agreed
\nto meet the workers' demands in a tripartite meeting Friday with
\nMinistry of Manpower officials and the workers' representatives.<\/p>\n
According to Abdul, the company promised to increase their
\nwages 15 percent in August to meet government minimum wage
\nstandards.<\/p>\n
\"After being informed about the news, five workers fainted
\nwhile the others started singing heroic songs with tears in their
\neyes,\" Abdul recalled.<\/p>\n
None of Tyfountex's executives could be reached for comment
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The 850 workers had traveled to Jakarta at their own expense,
\narriving on Monday, to seek legal advice over their earlier
\ndismissal.<\/p>\n
Fifteen of them were injured Tuesday when police blocked them
\nfrom marching on the street to the International Labor
\nOrganization office.<\/p>\n
They then decided to camp in the Ministry of Manpower compound
\nWednesday after Minister Fahmi Idris refused to put his pledge to
\nsettle the dispute in writing.<\/p>\n
Besides supplying buses, the ministry also provided the
\nworkers a total Rp 3 million in cash on Friday to help them with
\nmeal and transportation expenses on their trip home.<\/p>\n
\"Only 15 workers are still here. But we're planning to leave
\nJakarta this evening,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to Abdul, the company has agreed to reemploy 1,727
\nworkers it had dismissed after they went on strike for six days
\nfrom Aug. 3.<\/p>\n
\"If the company fails to meet its promise, we will stage
\nanother strike similar to the one we held in June,\" he said,
\nreferring to a strike in which the workers demanded a salary
\nincrease.<\/p>\n
He said that all the workers staged a hunger strike that day
\nto press their demands.<\/p>\n
Abdul, who has been a worker at the joint-venture company
\nsince 1981, said the workers were ready to take over the company
\nshould it decide to close its operations in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"If the company decides to pull out of Indonesia, we're ready
\nto take it over. We would set up a worker cooperative to manage
\nthe company,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We have the right to take over the company, because since it
\nwas established in 1970, it has made unfair deductions from our
\nsalary each month,\" Abdul said, adding that the company only paid
\nits employees for 26 working days a month.<\/p>\n
The workers said they were laid off by the company, which has
\na total workforce of 8,000 people, after their five-day rally
\nearly this month.<\/p>\n
The workers quoted the management as saying that any workers
\nwho failed to work for over five consecutive days were considered
\nas having resigned, and that they would not have any right to be
\npaid. (ivy)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-return-home-as-tyfountex-bows-to-demands-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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