Ex-PTDI employees clash with police

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Thousands of former employees at aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia clashed with some 400 police on Tuesday as they demanded to be allowed to resume work.

No injuries were reported in the clash, which occurred in front of the company's factory gates in Bandung.

The incident began at 7.30 a.m when the workers descended on the factory at the Husein Satranegara Air Force base on Jl. Padjajaran. As they arrived they were stopped by police.

Intent on entering the compound, the workers tried to force police aside, shoving and pushing them. The police fought back.

One worker bared his bottom to police to express his anger.

The employees went to the factory after the Bandung District Court last week ruled in favor of their union's lawsuit, which said the firing of the 6,000 employees by the firm was illegal.

It ordered the company to allow the employees to resume work.

Union secretary general A.M. Bone met with Air Force base deputy chief Lt. Col. Firdaus Syarief and West Bandung Police deputy chief Adj. Comr. Tomax Kurniawan but both refused to allow the employees to enter the compound.

The workers could not enter unless they had a letter from the court saying the ruling had been executed, they said.

The workers went home peacefully at midday.

The three defendants in the suit were the management of the ailing company, the office of the State Minister for State Enterprises and the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

The court ruled an extraordinary shareholders meeting held by the three defendants in August was illegal. At the meeting they decided to dismiss the employees.