Govt donates to families of dead labor activists

Govt donates to families of dead labor activists

JAKARTA (JP): The government offered to donate Rp 1 million (US$425) yesterday to the relatives of 14 dead labor activists, including relatives of labor heroine Marsinah.

Director general for Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Suwarto, who handed over the donation to the relatives, said the reward symbolized the government's recognition of the activists' noble cause.

"They made outstanding contributions to the promotion of workers' protection and improvement of their families' well- being," he said.

Twelve of the honored activists were from Jakarta, one from West Java and two from East Java.

The donation was part of the commemoration of National Labor Day, which took place on Feb. 20.

Marsinah's relatives, the most well-known recipients of the donation, were not present at the ceremony. They were represented by a ministry official.

Marsinah, who organized a strike at PT Catur Putra Surya -- a watch manufacturer in Sidoarjo, East Java -- was discovered dead on May 9, 1993, her badly mutilated body lying in an abandoned shack near Nganjuk, 90 kilometers west of Sidoarjo.

Marsinah had been involved in a dispute between the factory's managers and workers on May 4 and 5, 1993. Workers at PT Catur Putra Surya -- mostly females -- went on strike to demand that their wages be raised 20 percent above the minimum wage.

Following negotiations with Marsinah and 12 other workers' representatives, the management agreed to fulfill the demand. Soon after the agreement was signed, however, Marsinah and other representatives were summoned to Sidoarjo military district headquarters, where they claimed being intimidated into signing letters of resignation.

Marsinah was a recipient of the prestigious Yap Thiam Hien human rights award from the Foundation of the Center for Human Rights Study in Dec., 1993. (31)