Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Thousands of workers of shoe manufacturer PT Prima Inreksa in Tangerang, west of Jakarta staged a rally Wednesday at the company's plant to demand that their employer pay the wages of 1,000 workers who have been laid off since March 2007.

The lay-off came as the company saw a decline in orders from its overseas buyers, but the employer promised to pay 80 percent of the affected workers' monthly wages.

"But in reality the management only fulfilled its promise once in March 2007 and since then we have received 30 percent of our monthly wage or not at all," Ida, who has been working for 17 years, said.

Some 2,000 company workers who are still employed have gone on strike since Monday in a show of solidarity for their laid-off colleagues, putting the company's production to a halt.

The company used to produce shoes for Adidas, but the German sports apparel terminated its contract in 2006. The Indonesian firm now supplies shoes of various brands for export to the United States and other countries.