Workers protest unfair payment

Workers protest unfair payment

BATAM, Riau Islands: About 650 docksiders working for two
shipping companies in Batam protested outside the city council on
Monday, demanding the firms pay them the meal, overtime and
transportation allowances they were entitled to.

Jose, the protest coordinator, said that the workers at PT Pan
United and PT Inter Media Engineering Service (IMES), had only
received overtime rates of Rp 5,500 (US$0.55) an hour since
December last year, below the normal rate of Rp 7,000 an hour.

Each employee's overtime was estimated to be between five and
nine hours a day so the Rp 1,500 difference would be significant
for workers, Jose said.

Councillors later met the workers and promised they would take
their demands to the company bosses. -- JP