40,000 workers laid off in C. Java

40,000 workers laid off in C. Java

SEMARANG (JP): As many as 40,000 workers in Central Java have been "arbitrarily" laid off in the past five months, chairman of the Semarang-chapter of the Federation of All-Indonesia Workers Union (FSPSI) Tambah Soedjio said yesterday.

He told The Jakarta Post here that 400 of those dismissed were bank employees, 35,000 contract workers, 2,000 plantation workers, 200 sugar company workers, 500 textile company workers, while the rest were shoe factory workers.

"The lay-off scheme is simply the employers' tactic to avoid paying their employees' holiday bonuses (for Christmas and Idul Fitri)," he said.

Tambah said he was worried that the number of layoffs would increase in the next few months as Idul Fitri celebrations draw near.

"It's an obsolete tactic really, for a company to say it is trimming the company's organization when it is laying off its workers," he said.

No government officials or company representatives were available for comment yesterday.

As a show of solidarity to those who lost their job, Tambah called on the public not to celebrate Christmas, New Year, and Idul Fitri in extravagant style this year.

The government, due to the country's dire economic condition, promised last month that it would protect workers who faced dismissal by companies affected by the economic crisis.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief said that employers could not arbitrarily dismiss workers for any reason, including the monetary turmoil affecting their companies.

"Such dismissal is not allowed. That's the rule, that's all. We will stick to the law (Manpower Law), because we don't want workers to suffer losses caused by economic difficulties," Latief said during a session with the House of Representatives last month.

Latief was commenting on requests to dismiss 10,000 workers by 50 private companies, and the possible layoff of 6,000 employees of 16 recently dissolved banks. (har/aan)