Workers protest less in Tangerang

TANGERANG (JP): The number of protests here, home to 18,359 large and small factories which employ about 300,000 casual workers, have dropped to 22 cases this year from 64 recorded in 1996.

Most of the protests were staged by garment, footwear and electronics workers, the chairman of All-Indonesia Workers Union's Tangerang branch, Yusuf Makatika, said Saturday.

Despite the significant drop, the street protests staged by workers had the potential to be more disruptive.

"Most of the protests involved huge numbers of workers and the events were much more aggressive than in previous years," he said.

They, for instance, marched from the their factory compounds to the City Council in an attempt to meet with councilors and lobby them to settle the workers' demands.

On April 22, for instance, 10,200 workers of a factory producing a world-renowned brand of footwear were involved in a strike. Then on May 5, 8,300 workers from six factories took part in a massive strike. On Oct. 13, about 6,000 workers from another footwear producing firm conducted a street protest.

In many cases, the massive protests caused heavy traffic congestion in the area.

Yusuf expressed concern that the growing size of street protests could one day spark other serious problems if the local authorities failed to manage them properly.

None of the protests were used by third parties to further their own causes, he said.

Tangerang military district chief Lt. Col. Ibrahim Rozaini supported Yusuf's findings.

"All the protests were staged by the workers themselves, demanding that their basic rights be met and asking for improvements," he said. (bsr/41)