Disabled reject severance pay

JAKARTA (JP): Eighty handicapped workers of Swa Prasidya Purna workshop for the handicapped rejected on Wednesday combined severance pay of Rp 200 million (US$25,000) offered by the center's management.

The severance pay was offered in compensation for the cessation of the center's operations, but the employees demanded instead that they be allowed to continue living at and running the center.

The employees said they were asked to leave the center because the land on which it stood would be used for the construction of an apartment block and a tennis court.

Guarded by several police officers and witnessed by officials from the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Social Services, executives of the center urged the employees to accept the offer.

The entourage left the center, located on Jl. Cempaka Putih Raya, Central Jakarta, at 1 p.m after the workers turned down the offer.

The management of the center, which is owned by the Harapan Kita foundation, has been asked by the Central Committee of Labor Disputes (P4P) of the Ministry of Manpower to disburse severance pay to help settle its dispute with the workers.

The P4P's decision, however, was strongly rejected by the workers on the grounds that they were never consulted.

Lawyer Nelly Hutagaol of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, who represented the workers, said they would appeal to the Jakarta State Administrative High Court.

Nelly said they also planned to file a lawsuit against the center's executives for not paying them according to manpower regulations.

The dispute started when business tycoon Probosutedjo, who was head of the center's management, closed down the center on July 31 due to the monetary crisis.

The workers protested the closure and asked the government to let them run the business.

Before the closure, the center, which was founded by former president Soeharto's late wife, made and sold various items. These included printed material, garments, handicrafts and household items. (jun)