Fak-fak sawmill workers stranded in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More than 180 workers from sawmill company PT Prabu Alaska in Fak-fak, West Irian Jaya, are stranded in Jakarta as they seek government help to force their employer to pay overdue wages that have been suspended for 13 months.

The employees have already spent days camping in the parking lot of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry compound.

"We have been here for more than a week and we are running short of funds to cover our daily needs during our stay in the city," said Martin Wenda, the coordinator of the workers.

Djatmiko, another worker, said the group had come to Jakarta to seek help from the central government to settle the dispute with Prabu Alaska management.

"We are here representing some 1,600 workers whose wages have been suspended since June 2004. We have already brought the case to the Fak-fak District Court which ordered the management to pay a total of Rp 21 billion (about US$2 million) to the workers but so far the court verdict has not been executed," he said.

He said the management had stopped paying wages after it got into financial difficulties last year.

Martin said the workers were disappointed with Manpower and Transmigration Ministry officials who were reluctant to take on their case or provide them with financial support.

"We have met with relevant officials at the ministry but they cannot help us because (they say) we have not brought the case yet to the local committee for settlement of industrial disputes (P4D) in Fak-fak," he said.

Director general of labor supervision at the ministry, Maruddin Simanihuruk, said Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris had sent a letter to West Irian Jaya Governor Octavianus Atururi to help settle the dispute.

"We cannot directly tackle the case because under regional autonomy, it (the issue) is under the jurisdiction of the Fak-fak regional administration in West Irian Jaya," he said.

Maruddin said the minister had also sent a letter to chief Justice Bagir Manan, appealing to the Supreme Court to order the district court to execute the verdict.

"Besides looking for Po Suwandi, owner of the saw mill, we have asked the district court to seize Suwandi's large forest in Fak-fak in an attempt to force the employer to pay the workers their wages. The employer is also required to pay severance pay if the workers are dismissed."

The ministry had no funds to send back the workers to their hometown in Fak-fak, he said.