5,000 shoe workers protest for better pay

5,000 shoe workers protest for better pay

SURABAYA: Around 5,000 workers of shoe company PT Fortune Mate
Indonesia (FMI) staged a demonstration here on Tuesday to demand
better conditions.

The protesters, mostly women, urged the management to fire the
company's human resources development head, Kusnardi, whom they
blamed for reducing their allowances.

"Kusnardi has failed to protect us," one protester said.

According to the workers, the protest, which was held at the
factory in Tambak Sawah, Rungkut, Surabaya, was the result of the
workers' frustration as the local labor union and the company had
failed to address their grievances.

Kusnardi tried to explain the problems currently being faced
by the company to the workers, but they remained unmoved.

The workers demanded that the company reinstate the Rp 34,000
monthly menstruation allowance for female workers, which was
halted earlier this month.

They also demanded that management increase their food and
transportation allowances to Rp 3,000 per day instead of the Rp
1,500 per day which they have been receiving since Kusnardi took
up his post before January.

"Under current conditions, the workers have no other option
but to complain about the food and transportation allowances.
They often have to pay the shortfalls," said Kusnan, a protester.

He said that in reality the workers needed at least Rp 4,000
to cover their daily food and transportation costs. --JP