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)