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Strike at Jakarta’s JICT ends earlier than planned

Strike at Jakarta’s JICT ends earlier than planned
The strike at Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) ended earlier than planned on Monday, out of consideration for the "national interests", the chairman of the labour union was quoted as saying in local media, although management had also issued the first of three warning letters on Sunday.

More than 600 JICT workers had been on a strike since last Thursday which was supposed to last till Aug 10 to demand bonus payments, disrupting operations at the main terminal of Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port and causing some 20 vessels to be redirected to other terminals at the port.

“We have issued the first warning letter ( SP1 ) to call on workers to return to work, because the strike does not favour any party,” JICT vice president director Riza Erivan said.

The SP1 is the first of three warning letters that could eventually end with the workers’ dismissal.

The workers had questioned the payment of $80m in rental fees to state-owned port operator Pelindo II, which they claimed had caused a drop in their annual bonuses.

The chairman of the union, Nova Sofyan Hakim, claimed he had ordered members to stop the strike on Monday afternoon "for the sake of our interests, our dreams and for the greater national interests".

He added workers faced intimidation during the strike and JICT clients were forced to bear losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Let's follow the rules and not sacrifice public and national interests because we all know Tanjung Priok is the gate of our economy and a vital national object," Riza said.