Four thousand five hundred workers at PT Prima Buana Tex which is located in Anggadita, Klari sub-district, West Java held a protest demonstration Monday to complain of inhumane treatment by their employers and the fact that the local branch of the SPSI (the official union) is not functioning.

The workers demonstrated outside the factory holding aloft posters calling for the personnel manager to be sacked and for their sweat and toil to be respected.

The workers were demanding allowances for transport costs and meals. They also protested strongly at the way the personnel manager had dismissed workers after humiliating them. They said that before being dismissed, workers were often forced to take on difficult jobs like cleaning away thick foliage in the premises. Unwilling to do such arduous work, some employees had resigned, thus relieving the company of having to pay severance pay.

In the case of accidents at work, the company was only willing to cover 25 per cent of medical costs. One woman worker had caught her hair in a machine because of lack of safety and was not properly reimbursed. 'Many accidents occur, some of them minor, others more serious, but the company is only prepared to pay very little towards medical costs,' the workers said.

No member of the management was willing to speak to Media Indonesia, to confirm or deny these reports.