Striking workers clash with police

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)