Java, Lombok workers stage protest in Jambi

Java, Lombok workers stage protest in Jambi

JAKARTA (JP): About 200 workers from East Java, Jember in
Central Java, and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, have demonstrated
in Jambi to protest what they said was inhumane treatment by the
management of the labor supply company which recruited them.

Antara reported on Saturday that the workers who had applied
to work overseas had, among other things, been threatened by
company people and had to sell their clothes to buy food.

The workers also demanded to be immediately sent overseas, as
was promised by PT Tenaga Sejahtera Wirasta.

Jumiah, 24, said she has been waiting for eight months to be
sent to Malaysia to work as a maid.

"We've only been eating rice and boiled vegetables every day,"
she said, adding she was a widow with three children.

Another woman said she had to prostitute herself for food and
for her children in Java.

"I am ashamed to ask money from my parents," one woman said.

Two men, Jafar Sidiq and Maskur, said they were promised work
at a rubber plantation in Malaysia, adding that they were forced
to find other work as they have been waiting since September.

Workers said they had paid Rp 700,000 to Rp 1 million for
documents, including passports, to the company but had yet to see
their passports.

The company's director, Zainal Abidin, said the reports were
exaggerated and that there was no intention to delay sending the
workers.

The visas had yet to be obtained, he said.

Also on Saturday, Antara reported that the Semarang Legal Aid
Office presented awards to eight workers of PT Kayu Lapis
Indonesia (KLI) timber firm in conjunction with International
Labor Day, which fell on May 1.

The eight were victims of shooting by security personnel in a
demonstration in Kendal, Central Java, on March 5.

The awards were presented to a representative, Muronah. Dwi
Saputra, the office's labor division head, said the awards
symbolized support for workers' struggle, mainly in the province.
(anr)