Fadli, Batam – As many as 2,000 workers of PT Jaya Asiatic Shipyard in Batam, Riau Islands, went on strike Monday, demanding the company fix its poor work conditions.
The shipyard, the biggest on the island, has reportedly neglected sanitation and work safety, prevented workers from setting up their own union, and employed contract workers without insuring them under the compulsory social security programs.
Deputy chairman of the Batam chapter of the National Workers Union (SPN) Edison Simanjuntak said the workers, mostly contract-based welders, had come to the workplace but had refused to carry out their daily tasks until the poor work conditions were fixed.
Edison said the laborers would resume work only after they were provided with work safety equipment such as shoes, helmets and fireproof uniforms because they were all at high risk of occupational accidents.
"Besides, the workers have been denied access to freedom of association and insurance protection under the government-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek. So far, the company has recognized only one labor union, while SPN and other unions such as the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI) have been prohibited from representing workers in collective bargaining and bipartite negotiations on industrial disputes in the company," he said.
The local manpower and transmigration agency has tried to mediate the industrial dispute and to create contact between the workers and management but so far no agreement has been reached.
Asnan, employed in the air conditioning section, said he had to use shoes he bought himself because the company did not give him any as he was hired by an outsourcing company to work in the shipyard.
"I am paid by the hour, and if I am sick I am not paid. The company also does not give any health allowance and sick workers have to go to the hospital at their own expense," he said. He is paid Rp 6,500 (70 US cents) per hour, he said.
The 1992 law on social security programs requires companies that employ 10 or more workers, or that pay Rp 1 million or more a month, to register their workers with PT Jamsostek, a monopoly company that provides insurance covering healthcare, workplace accidents and death and pension benefits for workers.
Chairman of the local chapter of the Federation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (FSPSI) Imanuel D. Purba acknowledged the labor strike as the last chance for the company to respect the workers' rights, as required by the 2003 law on labor.
Local manpower and transmigration office head Rudy Syakyakirti said he would deploy a mediation team to take the workers' demands to the company and to make sure the strike ran peacefully.
"We will ask the company to respect workers' basic, normative rights such as provision of work equipment, social security programs and workers' status because the law prohibits outsourcing the core business," he said.
The three labor unions also asked local authorities to take action against the company, which has outsourced most of its core jobs to other companies, and against the outsourcing company, which has ignored the law in supplying workers to the shipyard.
The shipyard is the third company whose workers have gone on strike in the past month to fight for their normative rights. The other two were PT Shimano Batam and electronics company PT Thomson.