Hotel fires 18 for cooking rice

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: As many as 18 workers from the Wijaya hotel here staged a protest at Banyumas legislative council on Thursday against their recent dismissals after having been discovered cooking fried rice at the hotel.

They urged local legislators to help them push the hotel management to reinstate their labor status.

In a response, councillor Haris Subiyakto, who received the protesters, pledged to summon the hotel management soon.

The workers said they were removed for what the hotel management claimed was a violation of the company's regulations and a disciplinary offense when they cooked fried rice at the hotel's kitchen for themselves because they were hungry.

"We are paid Rp 10,800 per day. The payment includes food and transport allowances. For food, we have to buy it for ourselves," said Sukoco, one of the 18 dismissed workers.

The victims rejected the dismissals, describing it as an "arbitrary decision" by the hotel management, which, they added, had often made similar moves against other workers. --JP