The workers, who have been camped inside the factory grounds since the strike began March 19, were asleep when 500 people hired by the bosses arrived in seven buses March 29 and attacked the workers with machetes, swords, and homemade bombs.

One worker, Kimun Effendi, 21, was killed by a bomb thrown by the mob and 11 were injured. Two of the workers were in critical condition because of burns to their bodies. One of those hospitalized, Rachmat Hidayat, remained unconscious as of several days after the attack.

The strike action at the plant came after a year of the declining value of their wages and in response to the employers' harassment of the workers. The strikers have put forward four demands: a 75 percent increase in wages, revocation of the suspensions of two workers, the granting of permanent employee status for workers who have been with the company for more than 18 months, and the dismissal of the company's vice president, Rulichi Sujatim.

Many workers who have been employed at this plant for 15 years only take home Rp 450,000 (US$41.65) a month. "Our wages are not high enough to live in Jakarta with inflation rising every month," stated one worker.

"Our demands are logical and negotiable, but the company's management has never shown the good intention of meeting the demands of the 600 workers," stated another worker, Zainal, to the Jakarta Post.

"Although it is hard to find a job now, we will be better off leaving the company if the management keeps ignoring our demands," stated Djoko, another worker.

In another development, thousands of postal workers struck April 3 for higher pay. The following day, more than 1,500 bus drivers employed by the state transportation company, Perum PPD, walked out. They are demanding payment of last month's wages and pensions and that the government replace the firm's current board of directors because of rampant corruption.  
 
 
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