IPTN workers go on strike

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Hundreds of employees of aircraft manufacturer PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) staged a strike on Tuesday following what they said was the delayed payment of their pension savings.

They said the savings were needed to supplement their salaries. Other employees worked as usual while their colleagues demonstrated outside the management building.

The employees' spokesmen, Arief Minardi and Syarief Siregar, told reporters that 10,000 out of 15,570 employees supported the strike. "We tried to avoid a strike but the employees have run out of patience, what with the soaring prices of basic commodities," Arief said.

Six percent of the employees' salaries is cut for their pensions while the company contributes another 6 percent to the retirement fund.

In a January agreement with the International Monetary Fund the government committed itself to ending its budgetary support for the state-run company. The firm was last reported to have a 1996 loss of Rp 153.83 billion (US$20 million). (43)