300 striking workers demand a better working environment
300 striking workers demand a better working environment
JAKARTA (JP): Around 300 workers from a textile factory in the
Pulo Gadung industrial area, East Jakarta, picketed the Ministry
of Manpower yesterday to bring attention to what they call bad
conditions and compensation at their place of work.
The workers, who were thronged in front of the ministry since
early morning in peaceful protest, asked to meet with Minister of
Manpower Abdul Latief, but were driven by dozens of police and
military officers to a meeting room for security reasons.
They called on the government to force their employer to
comply with the existing labor regulations and to review the wage
system at their company.
Several workers who were asked to represent their fellows at a
meeting with officials of the ministry told The Jakarta Post that
they had been forced to take their case to the minister after a
five day strike last month ended without progress.
"We have never received transportation and meal allowances
while on duty. We are not even allowed to take a break, and we
are against the wage system applied by the company's management,"
said Sunardi, 36, who has been working for 15 years in the
factory's spinning division.
He said each worker receives a meager Rp 3,800 per day. He
said that the management pays the same wage to its workers
regardless of whether they are on the day, afternoon or night
shift.
Inem, a 28-year old woman, said that the management also gives
Idul Fitri bonuses of the same amount to all workers irrespective
of the length of time they have been working.
"According to general practice, workers who have been working
for a long time should receive a higher annual bonus than those
who are newly recruited," she said.
Sugiarti, 32, a woman who has been employed for 14 years in
the dyeing division, blamed the trade union at the company for
ignoring the interest of its member workers.
"Muchtar, chairman of the All Indonesian Workers Union unit in
the factory, should have played a leading role in organizing the
strike. Instead, he did not even take part," she said.
She said she suspects that Muchtar and several other staff
members of the union are under pressure from the management not
to join the strike.
Yesterday's meeting between the workers' representatives and
the ministry's officials did not yield any results, as the chief
of the East Jakarta manpower office was not present.
Widodo, one of the ministry's officials who received the
workers' representatives, said the meeting was put off until
today. But he promised that a fact-finding team from the ministry
will be sent to the factory soon to check the truth of the
allegations made by the workers.(rms)