Plantation workers demand better social welfare
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
Some 25,000 workers of state-owned palm oil company PT Perkebunan Nusantara II (PTPN II) went on strike on Tuesday to demand a replacement of the company's board of directors, fair pay and better job security.
Most of the demonstrators occupied the company's main office in Tanjungmorawa, some 20 kilometers south of the city, while several representatives staged a demonstration at the North Sumatra provincial legislature building.
They said they would continue to occupy the main office and stay off the job until State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi replaced the company's management, which they said was unable to save the company from a financial crisis it was facing.
The workers, grouped in the PTPN II workers union, also demanded the new management to pay off its debt to state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek for the insurance program the workers are enrolled in and to comply with the minimum wage standard for the province.
Indro Suhito, the chairman of the labor union for the company, said the current board of directors needed to be replaced because they were unable to cope with its financial difficulties.
"The company's finance director has confirmed the financial problems, while Reni Aziz, the director of human resources, is in police custody for the alleged unlawful sale of company land to other parties," he said after holding a dialog with the provincial legislature's leadership here on Tuesday.
Indro said that the workers had delivered a letter containing their demands, which gained the support of the provincial legislative council, to the state minister of state enterprises on Aug. 9, but it had yet to hear a response.
"The workers have no motives behind their demand for the management's replacement except to save the company from bankruptcy. It is up to the central government to appoint people who are capable of saving the company," he said.
Indro said workers no longer had confidence in the current management since the company was buckling under the weight of a huge bank debt totaling Rp 324.2 billion.
Teruna Sinulingga, the deputy chairman of the labor union, blamed the strike on the management's ignorance of the poor labor situation in the company.
"The workers went on strike because the management refused to make hundreds of contract-based workers permanent and to comply with the standard minimum wage for the province. A large amount of workers are paid Rp 378,000 per month, while the monthly minimum wage is set at Rp 464,000," he said.
Warsito Suhendra, the company's finance director, said at a hearing with the provincial legislature's commission on agriculture and plantations that the company was struggling with the Rp 320 billion debt and a Rp 4.2 billion debt to PT Jamsostek, and would be on the verge of collapse if no concrete actions were taken to improve the company's performance.
Efendi Panjaitan, the director of operations, said the management was trying to boost the company's production of palm oil and tobacco to help solve the company's financial problems.
"We are aiming to raise palm oil production to 11,000 tons per month from the previous 10,000 tons, and boost monthly tobacco production to 270 bales, worth 3 million euro.
Provincial legislature deputy chairman Serta Ginting, who met with the representatives, said the majority of legislators had heard the workers' demands.
He said the commission would invite the company's management to discuss the company's situation.