Women workers

Women workers

I would like to thank The Jakarta Post for publishing the
result of my survey (April 17, 1996). However, the Post has
misinterpreted some of the data, and thus a correction is needed
to avoid misunderstanding.

1. The responses from respondents revealed that the degree of
"company compliance" in terms of menstrual leave, breast feeding
facilities and overtime payment is still low (I did not mention
maternity and annual leave).

2. I did not say that there are cases in which the company
dismissed the workers who had taken menstrual leave. The survey
discovered that the company would give double payment to the
worker who worked during the menstrual days. But the company does
not pay the worker who takes menstrual leave.

3. My data indicates that 70 percent of the respondents work
overtime, 40 percent of which work 12 hours overtime a week. Half
of the respondents said that the company obliges the workers to
work overtime. The Post's way of presenting the data could bias
the information and conclusion.

4. In fact, I said that in general each worker's knowledge of
labor law is low.

MEDELINA K. HENDYTIO

CSIS, Jakarta