IPTN workers go on strike

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)