SIS employees demand salary raise
SIS employees demand salary raise
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Around 30 local employees of the Singapore International School (SIS) in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, staged a protest on Wednesday to demand a pay raise, improved conditions and health insurance as well as free schooling for their children.
The protest prompted the school management to suspend all classes on Wednesday.
The employees, who were observed chatting in the schoolyard, had written out their demands on banners and placards.
Most of them were low-level employees, including janitors, security guards and administrative as well as maintenance staff.
Over a dozen officers from the South Jakarta Police had been deployed to the school.
"We have five demands. Because our salaries are too low, we want the school to raise (our salary). We also want to be involved in drafting a new collective labor agreement," Asroni, the employees' negotiator, told The Jakarta Post.
He said that their salaries ranged from just over Rp 700,000 to just over Rp 900,000 per month.
Other demands included broader health insurance that included out-patient medication and funds to finance the schooling of employees' children.
The school's marketing and relations director Peter JM Koning said that only a few employees were not satisfied with the current conditions.
"We have discussed (the issues) with them. We are always open to negotiation. I don't think these people know what they are doing. They have been manipulated and somebody behind them is trying to use this to show that this school is not safe," he told the Post.
After several hours of negotiation, attended by officials from the Jakarta Labor Agency, the employees and the school's management agreed on 2.5 percent annual pay raises, adjusted contracts and more comprehensive health insurance.
"The protest ended peacefully. We shook hands, we made an agreement. There will be no lay offs but there will also be no intimidation of foreign staff and students," Konings said.
Asroni said they had agreed to call off the protest and go to work on Thursday as usual.
"We will work as usual tomorrow. However, if the school fails to keep its promises, we will stage another protest," he said.