TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Around 50 former 7-Eleven (Sevel) employees joined in the PT Modern Sevel Indonesia (MSI) Worker’s Union rallied in front of the MSI headquarters at South Jakarta this morning.

The former 7-eleven workers demanded their severance pay that has yet been completely paid by MSI. Head of MSI workers union Sumarsono claims that the company arbitrarily terminated their contract before paying their eight-month worth severance pay.

“We held four protests up until this moment, but the company has yet paid us, which should have been paid on December 31, 2017. The severance pay totaled up to Rp17.5 billion for the highest to the lowest positioned employee,” said Sumarsono. He hopes that this protest will have an effect.

According to MSI, there were 500 7-Eleven stores that were losing money after the ban on alcohol was introduced by the government. The stores heavily relied on alcoholic beverages to sell other products such as snacks and confectioneries.

Former 7-Eleven employee Siti Rukayah (30) hoped that MSI would pay-off their severance pay twice the provincial minimum pay (UMP). “We are currently in difficult conditions. Most of us have yet to get another job since we would be rejected if we apply for one. Companies tend to hire workers that are minimum 18-years-old,” said the housewife.

ANDRA PRABASARI | ALI ANWAR