Workers stage sit-in demo in support of colleagues

Workers stage sit-in demo in support of colleagues

Antara, Bandung

More than 500 workers of a match producer, PT Java Match Factory,
staged a sit-down protest at the Bandung district court,
demanding that the management act firmly against six
administrative staffers who forged the signatures of workers.

The workers's presence and the din they were making in the
court building gave rise to unease among the judges and other
staff, who later asked for around 60 riot police to be sent in
order to prevent any violence.

Muchidin, spokesman for the demonstrators, asserted that they
had come to the court to give moral support to 19 of their
colleagues who had had their signatures forged.

"We came here to draw the court's attention to our case and to
give our support to our colleagues who had their signatures
forged," he said.

Muchidin, whose signature was also forged, said he and his 19
colleagues had filed a law suit against the six administrative
staffers for forging their signatures so as to sign them up as
members of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI).

"The six staff members are executives of the SBSI branch in
the company.

"We are suing them in court because we cannot tolerate their
wrongdoing, and we have joined the Federation of All-Indonesia
Workers' Unions (SPSI) instead," he said.

Muchidin said the workers would continue their action next
week and every week until the court imposed a reasonable
punishment on the defendants.

"The management must also impose reasonable sanctions on them
so that they will never do such a thing in the future," he said.

Security personnel said they would tighten security at the
court if the demonstrators came to protest again next week.