M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Three thousand workers of Djayanti Group's Seram Plywood employed at PT Artika Optima Inti in Seram regency, Maluku, staged a rally for a second day Thursday to protest against the management's decision to lay off 2,589 of its workers.
The protesters said they strongly opposed the decision as it was taken without consulting them. Moreover, wages of thousands of company workers have not been paid over the past five months, they said.
During the rally the protesters demanded that the company pay the workers' wages due to them and severance pay in line with the law on layoffs. They also demanded that the company pay the workers' social insurance and also their dues from the cooperatives.
Yance, one of the protesters, said that the decision to lay off the workers was the company's right, but it had to meet its obligations to the workers.
The company also had to abide by the existing regulation by providing severance pay, Yance said, adding that the company owed about Rp 4 billion (US$432,432) to its workers in the form of unpaid social insurance. "We will continue staging rallies if the company fails to meet our demand," Yance said.
In its resolution, signed by members of the board of directors – Roni Sikap Sinuraya, Jonson Sihombing and Jefri Yunus – the company decided to lay off 2,589 of its 3,320 workers as the company was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Hendrik Burian, PT Artika Optima's lawyer, said that the layoffs were unavoidable as the company had suffered losses amounting to Rp 47 billion.
Despite the hardship, however, the company tried to meet its obligations to the workers, Hendrik said, adding that as soon as the company was back in business, it would employ all the workers again under a contract scheme. "The company will fulfill all its obligations to the workers by paying them in installments over a period of 15 months," he said.
During the first rally Wednesday, a small clash occurred in which three protesters and four police officers were injured when pelted by stones.
Ahmad Silehu, an official of the Western Seram regental administration met 25 of the protesters, who demanded that they be allowed to meet the Maluku governor to convey their grievances Friday in the Maluku capital of Ambon.