CLR Action Alert

In this Action Alert:

1. Support Indonesian Workers, Tell Management to Pay their Wages!
   
2. Tell President Bush Not to Take Away Overtime Pay

1. Support Indonesian Workers, Tell Management to Pay their Wages!

Workers at PT MGSU-Pabuaran have requested that you take a minute and send a letter of concern to management.

A sample letter is also included below. Please note that at this time, the union does NOT want protest letters to be sent to the U.S. retailer, therefore all references to this company have been deleted.

source: ABGTeks, Indonesia March 20, 2003

CHRONOLOGY

Withholding of Wages, PT Mitra Guna Sahabat Utama (Indonesia)

PT Mitra Guna Sahabat Utama began operating in 1988 with one factory and by 1998 it had increased production by setting up various branch factories in Cibinong, Bogor, Jakarta, Pabuaran and Serpong. The current case where wages are being withheld is in its Pabuaran branch, which has been in operation since 1999.

9 January 2003 -- According to company rules and usual practice, the 300 workers should have received their wages on this date. However, without any prior meeting with the plant-level Garment Workers' Union (SBG), the company withheld almost fifty percent of the wages. The Company said the rest would be paid on January 14, which they did.

9 February 2003 -- Once again the management, without involving the trade union, withheld wage payments and promised to pay them on February 14

13 February 2003 -- The Central Committee of ABGTeks (Association of Garment and Textile Workers) sent a letter to the company and demanded a meeting between the company and the Central Committee of ABGTeks. The company did not reply to this letter but instead announced that the company would be closing down the factory and would re-open with contract labor.

14 February 2003 -- Management said that the wages could not yet be paid, but perhaps could be on 21 February 2003. So as to muffle protests and strikes, the company's Finance Officer made loans to each worker to the value of Rp.100,000.

21 February 2003 -- The company paid the workers wages to the value of Rp.500,400 while overtime for the month and other allowances would be paid on 28 February 2003. All raw materials had been removed from PT MGSU in Pabuaran.

24 February 2003 -- Central Leadership of the ABGTeks sent a letter to the company, claiming that the company was refusing to recognize SBG as the workers' union.

26 February 2003 -- Raw materials arrived and production resumed, and indeed the Production Manager said that the company would be producing for a major U.S. retailer.

28 February 2003 -- As arranged by the management, the workers finally got the rest of their wages.

9 March 2003 -- The company, represented by the Personnel Manager, stated that the company had not yet received payment from the Buyer and therefore the workers would not be paid. The company said that wages would be paid on 14 March but perhaps not in full.

ACTION REQUEST

We understand that faxing letters to Indonesia entails quite a bit of expense, so we have included a mailing address. However, if you have the means, fax is preferred.

Mr. Yohanes Marjohan
Managing Director
PT Mitra Guna Sahabat Utama
Jalan Meruya Hilir, Taman Kebun Jeruk Blok AX/11-12
P.O. Box 4650
Jakarta 11630 Indonesia
Tel: +62-21 584 5468, 584 1889
Fax: +62-21 584 1896

In order to ensure that Marjohan receives your letters of concern as quickly as possible, please also fax him at the following branches of his company since he is not always at the head office.

PT MGSU Branches

Bogor: Tel/Fax: +62-251 501128, 503163
Cibinong: Tel/Fax: +62-21 875 2193 875 4680
Pabuaran: Tel/Fax: +62-21 876 4028

Please send copies of your protest letters to:

1. Central Committee, ABGTeks, Jakarta. Tel/Fax: +62-21 786 4203
2. Central Committee, GSBI, Jakarta. Tel/Fax: +62-21 786 4203
3. Central Committee, Perbupas, Jakarta. Tel/Fax: +62-21 786 4203
4. Legal Aid Institute, Jakarta. Tel/Fax: +62-21 314 5518

Sample Letter:

Dear Mr. Marjohan,

I am contacting you to express my concern regarding reports that since January workers at PT MGSU-Pabuaran have had to endure wage delays. I understand that for months workers have regularly only been paid a portion of their wages and have had to engage in a time-consuming and unneccessary process to demand full payment of their wages.

According to union reports, workers at your factory have not received all that they are owed for hours worked producing for a major U.S. retailer, particularly overtime hours. I understand that the union has attempted to resolve this ongoing problem but you have been unwilling to take steps to pay your employees the money they are owed in full on time. Instead you have regularly delayed payments and threatened to close down the factory. This is not a socially-responsible manner in which to operate.

I urge you to pay the workers the money they are owed promptly and in full. I also believe that you must enter into a more meaningful dialogue with the SBG union. As you know, consumers and retailers (including the U.S. retailer you are currently producing garments for) are concerned that their garments are produced in good working conditions, including prompt payment of wages in full and freedom of association. Therefore, please take steps to come in compliance with such internationally-recognized standards in your workplace.

Please inform me of any action you take to address these concerns.

Sincerely,

[insert your name/organization here]

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2. Tell President Bush Not to Take Away Overtime Pay

The Bush administration has proposed changes in federal overtime rules, which would erode the 40-hour workweek and could deny overtime pay to millions of America's workers. Please tell President George W. Bush, your senators and representatives right now that you oppose new regulations that could reduce overtime protections and cut workers pay. Ask President Bush to withdraw parts of his proposal that could lower workers' paychecks.

The Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) current overtime rules protect workers from employers who do not now require workers to work unreasonably long hours because they are required to pay overtime. The Bush rules could mean that many workers would face unpredictable work schedules because of an increased demand for extra hours for which employers would not have to pay time-and-half.

The Bush administration claims its proposal to raise the income ceiling for workers to automatically qualify for overtime pay would extend protection to some lower-income workers currently excluded. But most of these workers already are covered by overtime protections because of the nature of their jobs. In contrast, the Bush administration's proposed changes in workers' job definitions and duties that must be met to allow an employer to classify workers as "exempt" and thus ineligible for overtime would affect many more hundreds of thousands of workers.

TAKE ACTION! Send your own fax from this link: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/overtimepay

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