Hotel fires 18 for cooking rice

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