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Workers want penalties for 'tricky' bosses
Jakarta Post - May 2, 2008
Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Thousands of workers protested Wednesday in front of City Hall, demanding the administration punish employers who do not provide life and accident insurance.
In accordance with the 2006 gubernatorial regulation, all companies must provide life and accident insurance to their workers.
Thousands from Indonesian Workers Association (Aspek Indonesia) and the National Worker Association (SPN) participated in the staged protest.
"Around 95 to 97 percent of companies, where our members work, do not provide such insurances for their employees as mandated in the regulation," Endang Sunarto, the chairman of SPN's Jakarta chapter, said.
Violations still occur although companies must submit documents every year when they process their business license to prove their employees' have the required insurance.
Endang met with Deputy Governor Prijanto and a number of other city officials Wednesday to discuss the issue. Aspek and SPN representatives also attended the meeting.
Endang urged the administration to issue regulations to support the 2004 labor empowerment law to guarantee workers' right to recreational facilities.
Companies in the city have yet to provide facilities due to the absence of supporting regulations, he said. Prijanto said he would study the ordinance and the possibility of issuing such a regulation.
In addition to SPN's demands, Aspek Secretary General Indra Yana urged the administration to expedite the salary payment to public service agency Ambulans Gawat Darurat's employees.
"The agency has delayed salary payment to more than 200 employees for four months due to their obscure status, yet, according to the regulation, the agency's director should be penalized if the payment is delayed by only eight days," he said.
A similar incident occurred in 2006 when employees were left unpaid for six months, Arif Fatahillah, an agency employee, said.
Prijanto said he would help settle the issue, inviting Arif and his colleagues to another meeting next Monday.
Endang also said the administration should provide low-cost housings, particularly for employees working in the industrial bonded zone in North Jakarta.
"Those employees, who mostly come from outside Jakarta, spend 15 percent to 20 percent of their monthly income paying for accommodation in unhealthy, improper boarding houses," he said.
As part of the national program, the administration was building low-cost apartments to provide for low-income households, said Prijanto.
The government plans to build 1,000 low-cost apartment blocks with the prices of individual units ranging between Rp 90 million and Rp 144 million in the 10 big cities.
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