Workers threaten postal strike

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Employees of state-owned postal service firm PT Pos Indonesia's Yogyakarta office have given the firm's executives until Thursday to sign a deal with the workers union or risk a postal strike.

PT Pos Indonesia Yogyakarta Workers Union (SPPI) Sudarraharjo said on Tuesday that more than 300 employees of PT Pos Yogyakarta would strike on Thursday if the deal between the two sides failed.

PT Pos Indonesia employees in Jakarta and Bandung protested on Monday to demand a pay increase and the eradication of corruption in the company. The company is under the auspices of the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications.

Quoting reports from PT Pos Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta, Sudarraharjo said that the government had agreed to increase the employees' salaries by 10 percent and their annual bonus by 320 percent.

"We receive the announcement of the increase yesterday (Monday). We are all very glad to learn the news, but we want the company to keep its word that the new deal will be signed on April 5 as promised."

Sudarraharjo also said that the head of PT Pos Yogyakarta had approved the union's plan to strike on Thursday if the agreement was not signed on that day.

He said that employees of PT Pos Yogyakarta were paid Rp 400,000 to Rp 700,000 each per month. (44)