Dismissed Kasogi workers demand severance pay

Dismissed Kasogi workers demand severance pay

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

More than 1,500 workers, who were dismissed by shoe firm PT
Kasogi Internasional tbk last July, descended again on the East
Java legislative council building in Surabaya on Monday, pressing
ahead with their demand for severance pay.

They lashed out at the 1999-2004 elected members of the
council for not being serious in helping them fight for their
rights.

The protesters marched from Jl. Diponegoro to the council
building located on Jl. Indrapura, causing traffic jams in
several areas.

Arriving at the council, the demonstrators immediately entered
the compound and staged a rally against the shoe company located
in the neighboring city of Sidoarjo.

The protesting workers demanded that the new legislative
council order the Sidoarjo manpower office to summon PT Kasogi
president director Riswandi Hendarta in order to pay them
severance payments.

"Riswandi has ignored the law. He should therefore be taken to
court," shouted a protester.

The demonstrators also urged the council, which was
inaugurated earlier this month, to press PT Kasogi to drop its
lawsuit against the labor dispute settlement committee of the
Sidoarjo manpower office.

The company sued the committee for ordering it to pay the
dismissed workers one month's salary in severance pay in addition
to 50 percent of the amount of their unpaid salaries for three
months since July.

The protesters threatened to occupy the council building,
should their demands continue to be ignored by legislators or the
shoe company.

They also said they would not hesitate to prosecute the new
councillors if they were not serious in helping them overcome
their plight.

Monday was the fifth protest by the same workers who have been
struggling for severance pay since they were dismissed by PT
Kasogi in July.

PT Kasogi officials have said that, due to financial problems,
their company could not afford to pay a total of 20 billion
(US$2.2 million) in severance pay for around 2,100 dismissed
workers.

"It's very difficult to abide by the committee's decision
because the company is already bankrupt," Riswandi told a hearing
with local councillors, manpower officials and workers'
representatives on Sept. 16.