300 workers ask for severance pay

TANGERANG: Some 300 workers, who were dismissed by PT Koinus Jaya Garment last December, held a rally to protest against their dismissal and ask for severance pay at the Tangerang municipal administration office on Thursday.

The workers said that they had no money to purchase food and asked for donation from the municipality. "We will use the money to buy food and to finance our efforts to claim our rights," the workers' coordinator, Siti Nurrofiqoh told The Jakarta Post, on Thursday.

PT Koinus Jaya Garment, a garment factory on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Karawaci, dismissed the workers for reasons of efficiency. But the workers claim that they were dismissed for demanding improved benefits for employees.

"We were dismissed as negotiations between the company management and workers about severance pay were still in progress. Some of us were reported to the police and arrested," she said.

To fight for their rights, the workers staged a rally and spent every night for two weeks at the municipal manpower agency office. Since they were not given any assistance, they moved to the municipal council. As they also did not receive a solution to their complaint there they then moved to the administration office.--JP