Workers occupy manpower office in Palu

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Hundreds of workers from foreign-owned PT Leang Yang continued to occupy the Central Sulawesi Manpower and Transmigration Office in Palu on Saturday.

The occupation began on March 18 after the office's labor dispute settlement committee failed to address the protesters' grievances.

The workers are demanding the company raise their salaries and provide them with a food allowance.

"We will stay in the manpower and transmigration office until our fate is decided," Masaudin, one of the protesters, said.

The chairman of the labor dispute settlement committee, Muhammad Yusuf, promised to announce soon the results of talks between the committee and the company's management.

The firm, based in North Palu, scrapped the food allowance for workers in January, when it raised salaries from Rp 295,000 per month to Rp 351,000, or Rp 1,000 higher than the province's official minimum monthly wage.

But the workers claim the amount of their take-home pay fell despite the raise because of the ending of the food allowance. --Antara