Indonesia's aircraft manufacturer employees clash, 24 injured

Violence continued for a fourth day on Thursday between current and former employees of national aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) in Bandung, West Java, leaving at least 24 of them injured.

The clashes involved dismissed and re-hired workers, The Jakarta Post reported Friday.

The report said that almost all those injured were re-hired workers. Only two were dismissed employees, who have staged daily protests for months with the backing of the Communication Forum ofEmployees (FKK), the company's trade union.

PTDI directors blamed the inaction of the Bandung police for the prolonged violence. The management claimed to have asked the police for help to protect the company.

However, the police said they had refrained from intervening toavoid meddling in an internal labor dispute within the company.

Thursday's clash broke out at around 12:00 a.m. when rehired employees encountered a group of dismissed workers at Habibburrahman Mosque adjacent to one of the company's gates. Twoof the dismissed workers were injured in the clash with around 10 rehired employees, FKK secretary A.M. Bone was quoted as saying.

At the same time, three rehired employees were beaten at two other gates.

On Wednesday, the trade union also reported two Navy officers to the Siliwangi military police office for allegedly beating and kicking two dismissed protesters.

Some 1,000 FKK members have blockaded several gates of the company for the past two weeks to put pressure on the management to pay their salaries or rehire them.

They claimed they had not been paid since January because the company wrongly considered them dismissed. But the FKK labor unionrejected the decision.

"We have not as yet been dismissed because there has yet to be a final verdict handed down in the judicial process. That's why, according to the Manpower Law, the company must continue to respect our rights," Bone argued.

He said the protesting workers could no longer support their families since being dismissed five months ago, while they still had to pay for their children's education.

The company laid off all of its 9,600 workers last year after encountering financial difficulties, but rehired 3,200 of them this year.

The laid off workers blockaded the gates after PTDI directors failed to attend talks twice for further negotiations to settle the dispute.

Source: Xinhua