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)