THE grey-haired Nicolas Lamardan, 73, would always talk spiritedly about his claims to the severance money demanded from his former place of work, PT Pan Gas Nusantara. Over the last 13 years, this Maluku man has been fighting alone to get the claims paid.

As chairman of PT Pans labor union, the grandfather of three represented his fellow workers when filing a claim with the East Jakarta District Court in 1998. The first-instance court up to the a