Thousands of workers lose jobs in Tangerang
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Due to a continuing decline in business orders, at least 1,640 workers from several companies in Tangerang have been fired over the last two months and many of them are already in a condition of near starvation.
Nurul, 23, a senior high school graduate, told The Jakarta Post last week that she lost her job with PT Kencana Indah Garment, a garment producer in Cikokol, Tangerang.
She said she had been evicted from her boarding house in Cikokol because she could not pay the monthly rental fee. "Luckily, a friend of mine is letting me stay in her house for a while. But I don't have enough money to buy food," she said.
"I can eat once a day because of the assistance of fellow activists of the Leather, Garment and Sandal Labor Association (SPTSK) who collect money from others to supply food for all dismissed workers," she added.
She said that, when she was fired on Oct. 13, the company only gave her Rp 180,000 (US$18), which it claimed was severance pay. "But in fact, the money was actually my salary for the last two weeks before the company management declared the factory's closure and the mass dismissal of its 879 workers," she said.
Nurul said she actually wanted to go back to her hometown and meet up with her parents in Purwokerto, Central Java, but she did not have any money to buy tickets.
Saidah, 21, a worker at photo album producer PT Star Album in the Karawaci area, who together with 120 other workers lost her job at the company, explained that, without the help of her friend, she would have died of starvation.
PT Star Album has reported that it had to dismiss its 120 workers last month due to declining orders over the last few months.
"I now live in a friend's boarding house. I have sent many applications to other factories since I lost my job. I hope one of them will employ me soon," she told the Post at the Tangerang manpower agency last week.
"I have sent my wife and my two children back to my home town in Wonosobo, Central Java, because I've run out of money to support them," 34-year-old Suyono, who lost his job at PT Fajar Sun Master last month, told The Jakarta Post last week.
PT. Fajar Sun Master, a company that produces household devices under the Cosmos brandname on Jl. KH. Agus Salim, Batu Ceper reportedly dismissed 200 workers in October due to its declining product orders.
Suyono, a former mechanic at the factory who is now staying in his friend's rented house in Batu Ceper, said that, while waiting for a new job he spent his days working as a cigarette peddler in the city.
"Fortunately, I still have some savings that can be used as a small amount of capital to sell the cigarettes," he said.
PT Jaya Gunung Agung, a paper producer on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Karawaci, also dismissed 183 of its 308 workers this month. As a protest against the alleged unfair dismissals, the workers staged a rally at the council's offices last Wednesday.
PT Koinus Jaya, a jacket producer on Jl. Imam Bonjol in the Karawaci area, has also seen its business orders declining. It has decided to fire 250 workers from its total workforce of 500.
The dismissed workers organized a rally last Wednesday to protest the company's step and eight of them were detained by the police for vandalism.
Head of Tangerang manpower agency, Achmad Kosasih, admitted that his agency could not do much to prevent such mass dismissals by the companies.
"As business has been worsening recently, we understand that the companies have to take such a step. How can the companies pay their workers if they do not receive orders?" he said to the Post in an interview at his office last week.
Achmad said that as far as he knew, no company had sent reports about such mass dismissals because the planned dismissals by the five companies were still being handled by the Central Committee for Settling Disputes between Workers and Companies (P4P).