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Laid-off bank employees protest

Source
Agence France Presse - March 23, 1999

Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian bank employees who lost their jobs when the government shut down 38 banks this month staged a protest march through central Jakarta Tuesday demanding increased severance pay.

Some on foot and some in cars, the protestors headed slowly down Sudirman Avenue stowards the central Bank Indonesia (BI) complex shouting "Hang [BI governor Syarhil] Sabirin."

The 1,000 protestors, from among some 25,000 laid off when the government axed the 38 ailing banks on March 13, also waved placards slamming the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

"IBRA pays a fortune for consultants and peanuts for laid off workers," read one poster carried by the marchers, who were organized by the "Indonesian Moslem Brotherhood" group, witnesses said.

The employees, joined by laid-off executives, on Sunday had threatened to take to the streets if their demand for 10 months' severence pay, instead of the two months offered by IBRA, was turned down.

The jobless bank employees had until the weekend confined their protests to good-humored mass sit-ins at their respective banks in downtown Jakarta, playing cards, picnicking and even dancing in the lobbies. A first small demonstration was held Monday at the central bank.

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