Textile workers stage protest

TANGERANG (JP): About 1,000 employees of the polyester manufacturing company PT Yasunlitex staged a protest on Jl. Daan Mogot here on Tuesday to demand welfare improvements.

The workers demanded an Rp 500 increase in their monthly transport allowance from Rp 22,000 (US$2) to Rp 22,500, and an Rp 4,500 increase in their monthly meal allowance from Rp 18,000 to Rp 22,500.

They also asked the company to raise the night shift allowance given to workers from Rp 300 to Rp 400 per shift and to reimburse unused payments into a health care scheme.

"We urge the company to allow us to cash in our annual health care budget if we do not use the money to pay for medical treatment," one of the workers who asked for anonymity said.

M. Ivan, a company director, said that all the workers' demand had already been met by the management. "However, possibly some of them remain unsatisfied with what the management has offered," he said.

Representatives of the workers held a meeting with the firm's management in the presence of officials from the local manpower ministry office and the local branch of the All Indonesian Workers' Union (SPSI). (41/hhr)