Striking workers clash with police

SURABAYA (JP): Thirty people were injured yesterday when 25,000 striking workers clashed with security personnel who tried to stop them marching from Sidoarjo to the provincial legislative council in Surabaya, 20 kilometers away.

The Maspion Group workers burned one police motorcycle and threw stones at passing vehicles, damaging 15 cars. At least three injured police officers were rescued by an ambulance after the clashes. The workers were angered at their company management's refusal to provide them with transportation and meal allowances.

Yesterday was the fifth day of protests since last week and by far the biggest. The workers demanded a daily transportation allowance of Rp 1,500 (US$1.3), a daily Rp 3,000 meal allowance, and a bonus payment of Rp 8,000 every two weeks for those who worked without any days absent.

Tension rose yesterday after the workers refused to be transported to the provincial legislature in military trucks and buses under a heavy police and military escort.

The workers instead insisted on walking the 20 kilometers to Surabaya. In Bundaran Waru, on the border of Surabaya and Sidoarjo, the workers were halted by hundreds of security personnel, barbed wire barricades and armored vehicles. The workers pelted stones at the officers, who responded by beating them with sticks.

Those injured were taken to the Bhayangkara Hospital, while the rest forced their way through the barricade and continued down Jl. Ahmad Yani to the council building.

Shops along the route of the march closed in fear of looting and residents came out to give the strikers drinking water.

Joko Sayono from the East Java manpower office said the government had attempted to mediate in the dispute, and suggested that the company pay the workers a transportation allowance of Rp 750 and a meal allowance of Rp 1,000.

"Both sides rejected our suggestion, so the next step must be through negotiations with the Labor Disputes Committee," he said.

Maspion chairman Alim Markus said the company was facing financial difficulties and could not meet the workers' demands. Besides, he said, "most of the workers rent rooms near the factory. They walk to work. Why are they demanding transportation allowances now?"

Some workers, however, said their demands were not only about money but allegedly unfulfilled rights. "They even make it difficult for us to pray," said Sumarno, an employee at the Maspion III factory in Sidoarjo. Three Maspion factories are located in Sidoarjo, while the fourth is in Gresik.

The workers said they would continue with their strike until their demands were met. (nur)