Workers on strike to get allowance

JAMBI: Approximately 30 of the 40 employees with water company PDAM Tirta Batanghari in Batanghari regency have been on strike since Monday, demanding that the company pay them a "family allowance".

The protesting employees said the company had not been paying them their family allowances as regulated by the regency government decree No. 15/2002. They pledged to continue the strike until the company met their demands.

"The employees taking part in the strike will be given strict punishment because they've disrupted the company's production activities," the company's director Zulkarnain told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said the employees' salaries were based on the company's financial situation and it was still financially dependent on the regental administration. -- JP