Protesting water firm workers break into Palyja office

JAKARTA (JP): About 30 members of city-owned water management company PDAM Jaya's labor union broke into a PT Palyja office in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday morning and forced their colleagues to join their protest.

Uraini Umarjadi, public relations manager at PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), one of PDAM Jaya's two foreign joint venture partners, said on Wednesday the union members terrorized the 33 employees in the office, which is used to serve the company's large customers, forcing them to stop working.

No serious incidents were recorded, but a number of chairs and cups were broken by the union members, who arrived at about 10:30 a.m.

"Immediately after they entered the office, the union members shouted, asking the employees to halt their activities and join their demonstration," Uraini said.

When the office workers refused to join the protest, some of the union members began throwing chairs and cups, she said.

Fearing a possible clash, the office staff obeyed the union members' demand and left the office at 12:30 p.m.

The union members then left the office.

"Today, only four employees came to the office," she said.

According to Uraini, the building was guarded by two police officers. They, however, were unable to prevent the labor union members from entering the office, she said.

She said the union members claimed the act was part of their efforts to make their strike a success.

Palyja president Christian Michelon expressed disappointment over the incident in a written statement on Wednesday, saying such actions were intolerable.

"A labor union is formed to protect and ensure the welfare and security of the staff, not to terrorize or frighten those who are dedicating their services to the community," he said.

Hundreds of PDAM Jaya employees in the labor union have staged continuous rallies since April 8 to demand the cancellation of water management cooperations between PDAM Jaya and its foreign partners.

Misunderstanding

Labor union founder Amir R. Tanjung confirmed on Wednesday that some of the union's members had entered the Palyja office in Bendungan Hilir but denied they had terrorized the employees.

"There was no terror. It's maybe just a misunderstanding that the office employees were being forced to join our movement," he said after being questioned by officials from the city inspectorate office at City Hall over the union's demonstrations.

He also said the union had a special team of 100 union members who were assigned to enter PDAM Jaya offices, including those being used by the two joint venture partners, to ask whether employees who were union members would join the protest.

When asked about his questioning, Amir said the officials focused their questions on the reasons and people behind the protests.

"I told them we demanded the cancellation of the water management agreements and were not protesting salary disparities. We also convinced them that we are financing the protests ourselves," he said.

He said the labor union had received financial assistance amounting to some Rp 10 million from PDAM Jaya president Rama Boedi to make labor union member cards.

"But he isn't involved in our movement," Amir said.

There is speculation Rama is behind the rallies because he has failed to stop the protests and asked Governor Sutiyoso not to get involved in the case.

Sutiyoso has said Rama could be replaced if he was found incapable of managing the firm's employees. (ind)