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)