Plywood workers go on strike

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Around 1,400 workers of a plywood company in Fakfak went on strike on Wednesday demanding that the management pay them at least equal the minimum wage set by the local government.

The mostly female workers of PT Prabu Alaska also demanded that management enlist them in the state-run workers social security scheme.

The workers complained that the company only pays their salaries every four months instead of each month.

Irian Jaya Manpower Office Chief Redy Kamea told Antara he had not yet heard about the strike, but promised to look into the matter immediately.

He said every company should comply with the minimum wage regulation and that a reprieve is only possible under exceptional circumstances. Prabu Alaska has never applied for a reprieve, he added. (emb)