KSPI Warns Companies to Pay Off Last Year's THR Allowances

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Unions (KSPI) president Said Iqbal in a virtual press conference on Monday said there were 54 companies in the private sector that had yet to pay their workers the full annual Ramadan/Eid allowances or THR from last year after corporations were granted a government leeway due to the economic crisis from 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic. 

At the time, companies were permitted to pay THR allowances in installments. 

“There are 54 companies, among them are in the textile and garment industry,” Said Iqbal explained in the virtual press conference today.

Meanwhile, the National Workers Union (SPN) revealed their data that 10 thousand workers had yet to receive their full THR allowances. This reason alone is also why Iqbal demands companies not pay this year’s allowances in installments. 

He also called on Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah to avert issuing another official government circular that handed the right for companies to pay their workers’ THR in installments as the minister did last year, especially after the government has granted multiple stimulus packages for the private sector. 

Said Iqbal also cited Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, who had warned companies to complete last year’s THR allowance payments for workers. 

Previously reported, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economist Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara said companies were already able to pay the full amount of THR allowances ahead of Ramadan in May this year. 

He believed the industry was already on its feet since the end of the first quarter of 2021, which was evident in the purchasing managers index (PMI) that scored 53.2 in March this year. 

Read: 336 Companies Suspected of Eid Allowance Violations

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA