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View all search resultsWorkers demand 175% severance after government revokes TPL's permit
The workers have demanded 1.75 times their wages under a provision for retirement severance pay after the company offered just half their basic severance, while a management representative says the company has not decided on any layoffs as yet.
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A group of Batak people takes part in a protest in front of the North Sumatra governor’s office in Medan on Nov. 10, 2025, demanding that Governor Bobby Nasution shut down PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) over alleged land grabs and ecological damage around Lake Toba, a Batak stronghold. (Antara Foto/Yudi Manar)
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undreds of workers of PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) staged a rally on Tuesday to demand severance pay after the company announced layoff plans, citing the government’s revocation of its the forest utilization permit (PBPH) over violations that led to the ecological disasters across northern Sumatra last November.
The workers’ rally was staged at the entrance gate of the TPL factory in Sosor Ladang, Toba regency, North Sumatra, after their meeting with management reached a deadlock over the layoff plan and severance demand.
The workers' spokesman Pangeran Marpaung said they were simply asking for severance 1.75 times the amount as set in Article 40 the Government Regulation No. 32/2021 on contract workers, outsourcing and layoffs, which sets basic severance pay according to a worker’s tenure.
However, the workers’ demand is based on Article 56, which regulates retirement severance pay.
“This severance pay is our right if we are being laid off,” Pangeran said during Thursday’s rally. “Please fulfill our rights according to the existing regulations.”
He emphasized that the workers rejected the company’s severance policy to pay them half the basic severance as regulated in Article 40, describing the policy as detrimental to workers.
“The workers continue to demand 1.75 times their basic severance pay, not half of it,” Pangeran said.
