Tyfountex workers want rebel staff fired
Tyfountex workers want rebel staff fired
JAKARTA (JP): Following strikes last week by hundreds of
workers of textile company PT Tyfountex Indonesia in Kartasura,
Central Java, more than 500 out of around 6,000 workers who
remain loyal to the company staged a counter-demonstration at the
Ministry of Manpower on Monday.
The earlier strikes against the management of the Hong Kong-
Indonesian joint venture lasted a week in Jakarta and involved
700 workers. Several workers were injured in clashes with
security personnel.
In Monday's demonstration, workers demanded that Minister of
Manpower Fahmi Idris veto the recent decision by the Central
Committee for the Settlement of Industrial Disputes (P4P) which
turned down Tyfountex's application to fire more than 1,700
workers who went on strike ten days ago.
A veto, which is the right of the minister in regard to
decisions made by the committee, would authorize the management
to dismiss the 1,700 colleagues involved in last week's strike.
Budi Warsito, a spokesman for the demonstrators said: "We want
the government to be consistent and fair in protecting and
treating workers. Minister Fahmi must veto the committee's
decision. If he refuses to hear us, 5,000 more workers will come
here tomorrow to join in this demonstration."
The demonstrators said their striking coworkers are
"nuisances". Budi said the demonstrators refused to disperse
until the minister met their demand.
Workers in last week's strike demanded a 15 percent wage hike,
meal allowances and that the company reemploy them.
The company met all the demands, except that for automatic
rehiring of the striking workers. Tyfountex considers the
strikers to have resigned given their week-long absence from the
workplace when they were protesting in the capital.
The company instead asked the striking workers to reapply for
reemployment at its factory and go through the normal recruitment
procedures.
In hearing the case of the labor dispute late last month, the
industrial dispute committee approved all the striking workers'
demands and ordered the management to pay their wages during the
week-long demonstration.
Syaufii Samsuddin, director general of industrial relations
and labor standards, insisted the management should comply with
the committee's decision because the manpower minister had not
vetoed it.
"The company's management has received the committee's
decision and they must respect it," he said.
He said he was very disappointed with the management for
ignoring his invitation to attend the hearing. "I called the
management to come but they ignored (us)," he said.
He warned that the division of workers into two camps could
turn into open hostility among workers. "The management may end
up with no other alternative but to dismiss all workers and
relocate the factory," he said. (rms)