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