Enteos workers seeking help from rights body
Enteos workers seeking help from rights body
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty people representing 170 workers of PT Ilmu Inti Swadaya, which is run by the Enteos Club, went to the headquarters of the National Commission on Human Rights over the weekend to ask the body to help settle a dispute about unpaid salaries.
The workers were received by the commission's secretary, Baharuddin Lopa, who promised to lend a helping hand. He said the body would immediately report the case to the Ministry of Manpower, the Jakarta branch of the Legal Aid Institute told The Jakarta Post.
Pemmy Waluyo, who acted as the spokesman for the workers, said the Enteos Club had paid them in installments since December 1994, rather than monthly, as required by law.
The dispute began when the Enteos Club failed to pay a Rp 3.5 billion (around US$1.5 million) electricity bill to PT Mulia Perdana Pacific, owner of the premises used by PT Ilmu Inti Swadaya.
Because Enteos was unable to pay the bill, PT Mulia Perdana Pacific cut off all electric and telephone services, forcing the club to operate without electricity and telephones from Dec. 13, 1994, to May 7, 1995.
Despite the lack of electricity and telephones, all workers were asked to turn up every day. But the workers only received a segment of their pay in installments without any interest during the period when the club was deprived of electricity and phones.
From May 7 to Oct. 31, 1995, the company reopened with all utilities restored, but the workers still received their pay in installments.
On Nov. 1 last year, the owner of the building once again cut off the electricity and telephone services. The Enteos Club again asked the workers to turn up for work every day despite the dearth of facilities.
Mrs. Linda J. Tani, the club's president, then said that the club could not afford to pay the workers' salaries because it was no longer operational. She asked the workers to seek new jobs elsewhere.
At the insistence of the workers, Linda and her staff held a meeting with several representatives of the employees on Jan. 23 during which she offered to give each worker Rp 200,000 in severance pay. The money was to be paid in two installments, Rp 100,000 on Feb.29 and another Rp 100,000 on March 31. But the workers flatly rejected the offer because they considered it inadequate. They also refused to resign as ordered by the company.
The workers then sought help from the Legal Aid Institute. They asked it to help press their demand that the club pay their full salaries from November 1995 to January 1996. They also asked the company to give them severance pay and interest for the part of their salaries not paid to them.
The workers said Linda's claim that the club was bankrupt and thus could not afford to pay their salaries was highly improbable, given the fact that the club currently has 1,059 members, with each member paying an admission fee of US$ 5,000 and an annual fee of US$ 1,500. (bas)