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)