Company denies responsibility for workers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Director of textile company PT Kawan Kita Sejahtera, Jimmy Sitaniapessy, said on Tuesday he shared no responsibility for the fate of 500 workers who had lost their jobs and had not received their salaries.

In a statement made available to The Jakarta Post, Jimmy explained that the one of the company's assets located in Klapanunggal village, Bogor, had been sold to Korean businessman Chong Ok Park from Park and Kwon in 2000.

"With the takeover of the factory, PT P and K Garment Indonesia are subsequently responsible for all employees working there," he said, referring to Park's company.

Last July, the factory abruptly halted operations. The workers had not received their salaries for the last two months, let alone severance pay.

Park reportedly had returned to his home country.

The workers, represented by the Union of Muslim Indonesian Workers (Gaspermindo), filed a complaint with Bogor's manpower office, the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, and the police, but did not receive a positive response.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) listed at least seven similar cases affecting thousands of laborers in Greater Jakarta in the first half of this year. All of them were textile and textile-related producers owned by foreign investors. Most of the investors did not have Indonesian partners.

Last month, about 500 workers of PT Hyungsung Indonesia, a Korean company producing Targus computer bags, took their boss hostage after he abruptly closed down the factory due to financial problems and announced that workers would only receive one month's salary as severance pay. The workers allowed him to leave after being promised severance pay in accordance with manpower regulations.

LBH Jakarta has urged the government to impose firm regulations on foreign investors in a bid to protect workers' basic rights.