Medan teachers demand unpaid back pay

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP):Hundreds of teachers based in the capital of North Sumatra, Medan, thronged the mayoralty on Tuesday demanding unpaid back pay dating back to January this year.

Hundreds of students from more than 60 junior and senior high schools joined the teachers grouped under the Communication Forum for Teachers' Struggle (FKPG).

They insisted on meeting with Mayor Abdillah to discuss their problem. The situation almost got out of hand when the protesters refused to acknowledge an official, who claimed to represent the mayor.

"No! We want the mayor," they shouted, swarming the room leading to the mayor's office, where scores of police officers were ready to stop them.

The situation was under control by the time Mayor Abdillah met the protesters. He asked them to sing a song before starting their discussion.

"I promise to have the back pay paid soon," Abdillah said to the teachers, who looked dissatisfied with the mayor's promise.

They said that if the mayor failed to keep his word and their back pay was not paid by the end of this month they would stage a strike and ask their students to join them in an even bigger protest.

Teachers in many parts of the country have in the last two months staged protests over unpaid back pay.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said earlier that the back pay of all civil servants, including teachers would be paid before fasting month, which will begin in mid-November this year. The minister said, however, that the government had yet to find out where the money would come from.

Records made by the Medan mayoralty indicate that the mayoralty had a total of 19,420 teachers, 7,270 of whom work at high schools.

The head of Medan mayoralty financial office said that the mayoralty would have to set aside a total of almost Rp 72 billion for total unpaid back pay for civil servants under the auspices of the mayoralty. "Rp 39 billion of which will be for teachers." (42/sur)