Over 270,000 work hours lost in strikes this year

JAKARTA (JP): A total of 270,305 working hours from January to June were lost due to strikes this year, a union representative said yesterday.

The chairman of the Jakarta office of the All-Indonesia Workers Union, Fauzi Ibrahim, said 57 strikes were staged by workers throughout Jakarta during the six-month period.

"It tends to increase every month," said Fauzi, who is also a councilor from the Golkar faction.

He said that 15,589 workers were involved in the strikes.

In January there were seven strikes which involved 1,996 workers. In February one strike involved 175 workers, four occurred in March with 12,922 workers, nine in April with 3,951 workers, 28 in May with 8,175 workers and eight in June, he said.

"The strikes caused losses, not only to the companies and the country but also to the workers, as thousands of productive hours were wasted," Fauzi said.

Fauzi said most strikes were caused by wage disagreements. He urged the companies to pay the workers according to minimum wage regulations.

He said strikes need not happen if the companies agree to pay the workers in line with the government-set minimum wages and provide various welfare plans.

He also said better treatment could help prevent labor unrest.

"Poor treatment could easily lead the workers to take part in riots such as the recent one," he said.

No workers were involved in the riot, he said, but the government and company managements should work together to prevent such an incident.

He said there are five million workers in Jakarta working in 22,900 companies. However, only 221,000 are union members.

In January the government announced the minimum wages that were to take effect in April. In Jakarta the wage level increased from Rp 4,600 (US$2.00) to Rp 5,200 per day. i The administration also issued provincial decree No.7/1989, which requires companies to provide various welfare facilities and allowances for their workers.

The decree stipulates that companies are obliged to provide workers with medical services, religious centers and uniforms.

Other facilities that are meant to be provided are cafeterias, recreation and sports centers, transportation, housing, dormitories and child care centers.

Insurance, cooperatives, and basic education for children are also obligatory under the rule.

However, none of the companies in Jakarta have fulfilled all of the obligations, Fauzi said, confirming recent observations made by the council's commission for people's welfare. (yns)