1,500 garment workers demand 30 days of pay

JAKARTA (JP): Some 1,500 employees of garment companies PT Tritexindo, PT Aneka Citra Busana and PT Mayer Crocodile held a protest at the Ministry of Manpower yesterday to demand that their companies pay them on the basis of 30 working days in a month.

The workers, who wore yellow headbands, began their sit-in at the ministry building's auditorium at 9 a.m.

"We will stay overnight in the Ministry of Manpower building if the companies continue to ignore our demands," Udin, an employee of PT Tritexindo, said.

Udin said that he and his fellow workers were paid Rp 5,200 (US$2.21) a day for 25 working days in a month, meaning that they earned only Rp 130,000 a month.

PT Tritexindo and PT Aneka Citra Busana are subsidiaries of the publicly-listed PT Mayatexdian, which is controlled by businessmen Bambang Trihatmodjo, Bambang Yoga and Beny Sutrisno. Both companies are located on Jl. Cilincing, in North Jakarta.

PT Mayer Crocodile, which is located in Bogor, West Java, produces sweaters.

The building was guarded by some police officers from the Setiabudi police subprecinct and military officers from the Jakarta Military Command.

Meanwhile, Amrinal, the director for the ministry's labor standard office, told reporters that he had notified the managements of PT Tritexindo and PT Aneka Citra Busana about the workers' protest.

Amrinal said the managements wanted to discuss the workers' demands at the companies' locations, not at the ministry.

The workers rejected the offer, insisting that the meeting be held in the ministry.

On April 1, the government announced an increase in the minimum wage, from Rp 4,600 a day to Rp 5,200 a day. At the same time, the government also required companies to pay their workers, temporary or permanent, on the basis of 30 working days.

On June 4, as many as 215 companies -- mostly from the garment industry -- were allowed by the government to defer enforcing the new regulation for a one-year term.

The companies were granted deferments because of marketing and financial problems, Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief had earlier said. (jun)