Thousands protest at governor's office

SURABAYA: About 1,800 workers from household appliance company PT Kyung Dong Indonesia (KDI) in Sidoarjo staged a protest on Thursday at the East Java gubernatorial office on Jl. Pahlawan, Surabaya.

They demanded Governor Imam Utomo to prevent the closure of the company.

The protesters, who called themselves the Indonesian Metal Workers Federation, arrived on motorcycles, in trucks and private cars at 10:30 a.m. They raised dozens of posters and banners that read, "Uphold justice and pay attention to the plight and rights of workers" and "No to mass dismissal and stop discriminating workers".

They alternately spoke from atop the trucks, and one protester urged the governor and manpower and transmigration minister to fully intervene in PT KDI's planned closure.

Damianus, vice chairman of the federation, said the group had staged the protest at the governor's office upon the hope that the governor would intercede in the affair on behalf of the 1,762 PT KDI workers.

However, they were not able to meet the governor.

Instead, they were received by the local welfare agency chief, Bramantyo, and the head of the East Java Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes, Pasaribu. -- JP