300 workers ask for severance pay

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