Maspion employees return to six-day work

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Workers of the Sidoarjo-based plastic goods producer PT Maspion went back to work on Friday, ending a week-long stand off with the management of the factory over working days.

Thousands of workers entered the factory compound in Sidoarjo, East Java early in the morning and started their work as usual.

Policemen no longer guarded the compound, and only company security guards watched over the site.

Assistant to Maspion president, Suharto, said the factory workers had no further complaint as the five-day working week regulation had been canceled.

"The workers are satisfied because we have fulfilled their demand, but actually the six-day working week system burdens the company," Suharto told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the five-day working system was introduced to cut production costs.

"But, we will just stick to normal working hours and no worker will be permitted to do any overtime to avoid unnecessary expenses," Suharto said.

Almost half of the 25,000 workers had been on strike in protest of the decision to cut working hours. The strike was marred by a clash on Wednesday that injured at least five workers and a journalist.

Wisnu Dewabrata from Kompas daily, was beaten up by at least 10 policemen during the second day of the strike on Wednesday. The daily will take legal action against the police.

Also on Friday, criticism continued to mount against the perpetrators of the assault, with the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) demanding legal action.

"The public should know that such an assault is a violation of the rights of people for information," the statement signed by IJTI chairman Ray Widjaja said.

He underlined that the police had a long history of violence against journalists. "To end the list, there should be a transparent report on steps that have been taken against the policemen involved.

East Java Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sad Harunantyo said on Friday that the police had arrested Second Brig. Hamzah who was among the police that seized Wisnu's camera during Wednesday's clash.

He further said that the East Java Police chief had asked the Sidoarjo Police to handle the case and to identify other policemen that joined Hamzah in the clash.

"The (East Java) police chief has ordered that the names of the policemen involved in the clash should be submitted before July 1," Harunantyo said as quoted by Antara.

The East Java journalists association had asked the police to announce the names before July 1, which is the commemoration of National Police Day.