Unproven Charges, Eight Months of Pay Cuts: Inside the Labor Dispute at Pegatron's Batam Subsidiary
- Shaka Amanirenas
- Apr 25
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 27
Two R&D professionals at PT Pegaunihan Technology Indonesia say they were sanctioned without adequate proof, stripped of income components tied to their job grades, and silenced by a company that refused to appear at nine consecutive state-mediated forums. State labor officials have now confirmed the sanctions have expired, and the pay cuts have no legal basis.
The Company and the Context
PT Pegaunihan Technology Indonesia sits inside Batamindo Industrial Park in Muka Kuning, one of the most symbolically important industrial zones in Southeast Asia, built in the early 1990s as Indonesia's answer to Singapore's manufacturing ambitions. Its parent company, Pegatron Corporation of Taiwan, is one of Apple's primary contract manufacturers. The Batam facility was formally inaugurated in April 2025.
Against that backdrop, what began as an internal disciplinary matter in August 2025 has grown into one of the most publicly documented labor disputes in Batam in recent memory, involving two government ministries, a provincial legislature, the national ombudsman, and more than eighteen separate media outlets.
At the center of it are two people: Engly Heryanto Ndaomanu, S.Si., M.T., a Technical Manager in R&D who joined the company in May 2021, and Rieke Dyah Astiwi, S.Si., a Senior Engineer in R&D who joined in November 2022. Both hold science degrees. Both are permanent employees. And both, since August 2025, have been living under the weight of disciplinary sanctions that state officials now say should have expired months ago.
The Sanction and Its Consequences
An SP3 Without a Paper Trail
In August 2025, PT Pegaunihan's HR department issued both workers a Surat Peringatan Pertama dan Terakhir (SPPT), commonly known as SP3, the most severe written warning in the Indonesian labor disciplinary system, typically issued only in cases of grave misconduct. The stated basis: unauthorized use of another employee's badge ID.
What happened next would define the next eight months. The company began deducting a component of the workers' monthly income, an amount that had been paid consistently, tied to their job grades, for as long as they had held their respective positions. For Engly, that meant Rp 5,000,000 less per month. For Rieke, Rp 2,500,000. Over eight months, the combined shortfall exceeds Rp 44,000,000 in base income alone, before accounting for related losses including a cancelled Taiwan training program and KPI interference.
Under Indonesian labor law, specifically Article 52 of Government Regulation No. 35 of 2021, an SP3 carries a maximum validity period of six months. After that, it expires. The Head of Riau Islands Provincial Manpower, Diky Wijaya, confirmed this publicly to local media outlet BatamTV in early April 2026: "The SP3 has passed the six-month mark and is no longer valid." (Source: BatamTV, April 5, 2026)
Yet the income deductions did not stop when the sanction expired. They continued into the seventh month, the eighth month, and counting.
The Legal Problem with the Pay Deduction
What Indonesian Law Actually Says
The workers' position rests on a straightforward reading of the law. Article 63(1) of Government Regulation No. 36 of 2021 on Wages lists exhaustively the only six circumstances under which an employer may deduct wages: fines, compensation for proven damages, wage advances, rental of company property, employee debt, or overpayment of wages. Disciplinary sanctions, including SP3, don't appear on that list. There is no seventh category.
This matters because it means the legality of the pay cuts does not depend on whether the SP3 itself was valid. Even if the company's disciplinary action had been procedurally sound, that would not have authorized the income deduction. The two issues are legally separate, a distinction the workers have maintained throughout, and which state labor officials have begun to echo.
Legal Framework
Article 88A(3) of Law No. 6 of 2023 requires employers to pay wages in accordance with agreed terms. Article 185(1) of the same law prescribes criminal penalties of one to four years imprisonment and fines of Rp 100–400 million for violations. The offense is classified as a "kejahatan", a serious crime, not a minor infraction, and doesn't require a formal complaint to be prosecuted.
The Hearings: A Documented Pattern of Absence
What makes this case unusual is not just what the company did, it is what it consistently failed to do when called to account for it. Across nine separate official forums spanning September 2025 to April 2026, PT Pegaunihan's management either failed to appear, appeared without decision-making authority, or sent a cancellation notice via delivery app twenty minutes before the scheduled time.
The forums included three bipartite negotiations (in which HR reportedly expelled the workers and their union representative), three tripartite sessions at Batam's Manpower Office, a summons from the Riau Islands Provincial Labor Inspectorate, a People's Representative Council hearing at the Batam DPRD, which the company skipped entirely, notifying organizers via Gojek one hour before the session, and hearing at the provincial Wasnaker office.
At the third tripartite session in November 2025, the company's representatives arrived but brought no documentary evidence. The mediator's formal recommendation, issued forty-two days late, acknowledged that the company's proof was inadequate, and yet still suggested the workers accept the sanction. The workers formally rejected the recommendation in January 2026.
No Proof of Company Loss - Ever
Throughout eight months and nine forums, the company has not produced a single document showing that the alleged badge ID violation caused the company measurable financial harm. This is not a minor evidentiary gap. Under Article 63(1)(b) of Government Regulation No. 36 of 2021, wage deductions classified as "compensation for damages" require demonstrable, quantifiable loss. No loss was ever shown. The Batam Manpower mediator acknowledged this in the formal written recommendation of November 2025, yet still sided with the company on the sanction itself.
A Company That Has Not Spoken
BatamTV reporters attempted to reach HR Manager Narti by WhatsApp and in person at the Muka Kuning industrial park office in early April 2026. They were told she could not be seen without a prior appointment. No statement was issued.
Across more than eighteen publications covering this case between November 2025 and April 2026, PT Pegaunihan Technology Indonesia has issued zero official responses. Pegatron Corporation in Taiwan has not commented.
For a company that manufactures products for one of the world's most brand-sensitive corporations: Apple, the silence carries its own signal.
Sources and Further Reading
Constitutional Court Decision No. 168/PUU-XXI/2023 (decided October 31, 2024)
Government Regulation No. 36 of 2021 on Wages, Article 63(1)
Government Regulation No. 35 of 2021, Article 52
By: Special Correspondent Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia April 2026 Updated continuously
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