Bandung workers protest dismissals

Bandung workers protest dismissals

BANDUNG: At least 2,000 employees of garment manufacturer PT
KH Fortune Garmen Majalaya, located in the Bandung regency,
rallied at the provincial council office on Monday to protest the
dismissal of their colleagues.

The spokesman for the protesters, Rusman Effendi, said they
were demanding the councillors meet with the company's management
and workers' representatives to discuss the dismissals and what
they said was the unfair compensation the dismissed workers
received.

Rusman said the company recently fired 250 workers, giving
each dismissed worker Rp 286,000 in severance pay, or the
equivalent of one month's salary.

He said the workers were demanding severance packages equal to
six month's salary.

Effendi added that the company would soon fire another 300
workers, reportedly to cut costs.

The chairman of the Council's Commission E for public welfare,
Ruchiyat Noor, promised to hold a meeting on Wednesday with the
company's management to relay the protesters' demands.(25/lup)