Garment firm disrupted by massive workers' strike
Garment firm disrupted by massive workers' strike
BOGOR, West Java (JP): Production at two factories of the
giant garment company PT Great River Industries was disrupted
yesterday when most of its 13,000 workers went on strike to
demand wage increases.
About 6,000 workers turned up at the Cibinong factory, but
they did not report for work. Instead, eyewitnesses said, they
formed a picket line to prevent others from going in.
Their request to meet with the management was flatly rejected
and they were told instead to channel their demands through the
factory unit of the All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI).
This is the first time that Great River, a publicly listed
company which is also one of Indonesia's major textile exporters,
has been hit by a major industrial stoppage.
The company operates from two factories in Cibinong and
Cikarang, both districts in Bogor, to produce top-of-the-line
brand products such as Arrow, Triumph and Choya. It also has
brand agency agreements for Cerruti, Disney, Donna Karan and
Swatch.
Great River was first listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in
1989. Now 40 percent of its equity is held by the public. The
majority of its equity is held by a company controlled by
businessman Sunjoto Tanudjaja.
The strikers yesterday were backed by hundreds of students and
activists from the Indonesian Students for Solidarity and
Democracy and the Center for the Indonesian Labor Struggle.
Once it became apparent that their request to see the
management was unlikely to be met, the workers and their
supporters began marching towards the Bogor Legislative Council
building about five kilometers away.
The marchers formed a one-kilometer line, causing a massive
traffic jam along the way. Watched closely by more than 100
police officers in anti-riot gear, the march proceeded orderly.
However, brief scuffles with the police broke out in front of
the legislative council building when the protesters tried to
barge their way into the building.
Police subsequently detained 18 protesters, but later released
11 of them. The seven detained and whisked away to a nearby
precinct were all students, identified as Ditasari, Setyo Budi,
Meggy Haryanto, Kelik, Asmarulloh, Andri Ali Akbar, and Lukman.
The vice chairman of the council, Hasan Zaenal Abidin and
three council members, agreed to see 10 representatives of the
workers and four officials of the company's SPSI unit. Later on,
they also met with six representatives of the management.
Sahroni, the workers' spokesman, said they are demanding a
basic wage of Rp 4,600 a day, the official minimum level, plus
transportation and meal allowances, bringing the total take home
salary to Rp 7,000 ($3) a day.
They also demanded housing allowances and health insurance and
the right to form an independent trade union, saying that SPSI
has failed to accommodate their interests, Sahroni said.
Responding to the claim, the factory's SPSI chief, Gunawan,
said that the union has been trying to negotiate the workers'
demands with the management.
He explained that the union had no prior knowledge of the
strike.
Lo Ginting, Great River's Administration Director, told the
councilors that the company is willing to negotiate with the
workers, through SPSI, to draw up a new collective labor
agreement.
He pointed out that the company is already paying its workers
the Rp 4,600 daily minimum wage level set by the government for
West Java area.
Councilor Hasan Zaenal Abidin, during the meeting with the
workers earlier, asked them to return to work today, saying that
he would raise the matter with the company's management.
He also promised them that he would make sure that none of the
strikers would be reprimanded for their actions. (29)