Long-term outsourcing staff at PT Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), Indonesia’s largest container port, staged a protest this week having been denied permanent employee status.

Many of the workers, working in IT and administration , have worked there for up to 20 years, according to press reports. They are now being asked to sign contracts as outsourcing workers or to give up their employment at the port.

Those employed on a part-time outsourcing contract are reported to earn one tenth of a full-time wage; approximately £90 a month against £900 for a full-time worker.

"We have been working at the firm main division for 15 to 20 years but we have yet to become permanent employees," Sutimanto, chairman of the JICT outsourcing worker association, said as quoted by Kompas.com.

"The labour law bans a company from outsourcing jobs in its main division."

Approximately 500 workers protested in front of the main gate of the Tanjung Priok port, North Jakarta demanding permanent employee status.