1,000 workers strike over overtime pay

1,000 workers strike over overtime pay

TANGERANG (JP): At least 1,000 workers of transportation firm
PT Mandira Erajasa Wahana went on strike on Thursday, demanding
payment of their unpaid overtime fees and reemployment of their
dismissed colleagues.

The workers of the firm, a subsidiary of national flag carrier
PT Garuda Indonesia, first struck on Wednesday night.

They have demanded that the company pay their outstanding
overtime fees from 1996 to 1998 in cash this month.

The protesters, grouped in Mandira's Workers and Drivers
Communication Forum, also asked the company to reemploy their
workmates who had been arbitrarily suspended and dismissed by the
employers.

"We have discussed with company management since June, but no
satisfactory solution has been reached," the forum's chairman,
Rudi Santosa Agus, said.

They also urged the company to return fees collected monthly
for the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps (Korpri) in the period to
them.

In the strike, the workers are also demanding that the company
executives, including general affairs manager A. Simanjuntak,
accounts and finance manager Amrul Arief and transportation
expert staffer Henki W. Wibowo, resign for their wrongdoings.

Despite the strike, the company, which provides transportation
services for Garuda crew members, still managed to maintain its
services without disturbing flight schedules, Agus said.

He said that the workers had informed Garuda two days earlier
that they would launch the demonstration. He had also suggested
the airline crew take taxis to go home.

Garuda Indonesia's general manager at the Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport, N.S. Wandy Hadi, also confirmed that the
strike did not disturb flight schedules.

Meanwhile, PT Mandira executives could not be reached for
comment on Thursday since they were still discussing the demands
with the workers' lawyer, P. Nainggolan. (41/jun)