Restaurant employees in a stew over dismissal

Restaurant employees in a stew over dismissal

JAKARTA (JP): Thirty employees of a Japanese restaurant on Jl.
Melawai in South Jakarta visited the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute
on Wednesday to seek legal advice over their dismissal.

The group's spokesman, Floresaka, said they had refused the
severance pay offered by PT Cahaya Lumindo, the management of Ai
dan Tamu restaurant.

"The payment is only half that given to 25 workers who were
dismissed last month," he said.

Floresaka said the restaurant closed in September, allegedly
due to a drastic slump in the number of customers.

Twenty five employees were then dismissed in October, followed
by 30 more earlier this month.

However, Floresaka said that the employees, who had each
worked at the restaurant for an average of seven years, had a
different theory about the reason behind their dismissal.

They believe their dismissal was the result of a demonstration
staged by the workers outside the restaurant in October, he said.

During the protest, the employees demanded that the management
enroll them on the Jamsostek social security insurance scheme.

They also protested the restaurant management's policy of
cutting two days' pay for every one day they were absent from
work, Floresaka recalled.

The workers then took their grievances to the Ministry of
Manpower on Jl. Gatot Subroto to seek official support for their
cause.

"We were probably fired after the management received a
warning letter from the ministry," he said.

Company executives could not be reached for comment on
Wednesday.

Dyah Ariani from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, who is
representing the dismissed employees, said she would invite the
company's executives to a meeting to discuss the matter next
week.

"The employees are only demanding to be treated in accordance
with manpower regulations," Dyah said without giving any further
details. (jun)