Industrial dispute at aerospace firm settled<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
The tension at the state-owned aerospace firm PT Dirgantara
\nIndonesia (PT DI) came to an end soon after the company's
\npresident director Edwin Soedarmo annulled his decision to lay
\noff all 9,670 employees on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
With the decision's annulment, employees will return to work
\non Monday.<\/p>\n
The president director closed and locked the plant on July 11,
\nand decided to lay off all the workers as a result of the chronic
\nfinancial difficulties that had been plaguing the company for
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the press here on Wednesday, Edwin said that
\naround 3,000 employees would be reassigned to assemble CN-235
\npassenger planes and to produce spare parts for A-380 aircraft
\nordered by British Aerospace.<\/p>\n
He said PT DI was currently working on two CN-235 planes
\nordered by the Royal Malaysian Air Force, which were scheduled to
\nbe delivered in September, 2004, and March, 2005, respectively.<\/p>\n
The company is also working on four CN-235s ordered by
\nPakistan, which should be delivered by the end of this year and
\nin June 2004.<\/p>\n
As for the remaining employees, Edwin said the company had yet
\nto decide on what to do about them. \"In the next six months, we
\nwill undertake a streamlining program in the company and
\nconcentrate on our core business. This will likely lead to a cut
\nin our workforce,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Even if the company does decide to lay off a part of the
\nworkforce, it will also face difficulties as it will have to pay
\nmassive amounts of money in severance pay.<\/p>\n
The decision to lock out the workforce raised tension between
\nthe management and the workers, and led to highly public
\nbickering among top government leaders. State Minister for State
\nEnterprises Laksamana Sukardi backed the management decision by
\nsaying that the company needed to cut its losses, while Minister
\nof Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea slammed the
\ndecision saying that it violated the prevailing labor law.<\/p>\n
The company has been dragged down by debts totaling around Rp
\n2.5 trillion (US$304 million) owed to the government and the
\nIndonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (BPPPN), and has to spend
\nRp 35 billion monthly to cover its operating costs, including
\nemployee salaries.<\/p>\n
Edwin also denied an allegation that he had ordered the
\ncutting off of water and electricity supplies, as well as medical
\nservices for the employees.<\/p>\n
\"It was probably sabotage as I personally never gave any such
\norder. Anyway, there is still manufacturing work going on in the
\nplant,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, employees of PT DI, who have been staging rallies
\nat the factory complex in Bandung for the last four days, halted
\ntheir action following the decision's annulment.<\/p>\n
PT DI Labor Union (FKK) spokesman Arif Minardi said that the
\nrallies had been halted after they received the official
\nannouncement on the decision's annulment.<\/p>\n
\"The rallies were costing the union Rp 4 million a day,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
PT Dirgantara Indonesia, formerly known as PT Industri Pesawat
\nTerbang Nurtanio (IPTN), was one of 10 strategic industries under
\nthe supervision of former technology and research minister B. J.
\nHabibie in the 1980s. Since the initial investment of Rp 1.6
\ntrillion ($195 million) to establish the company in 1986, it has
\nfaced persistent and chronic financial problems, with the
\ngovernment having to step in to cover its operating costs in the
\nearly 1990s.<\/p>\n
The company's outstanding debts now reach Rp 2.9 trillion. The
\ndebts soared after the company recruited a large number of
\npersonnel for the development of the N-250 passenger aircraft.<\/p>\n
But after the signing of the Letter of Intent (LoI) between
\nthe International Monetary Fund and the Indonesian government, PT
\nDI found itself cast adrift and left to stand on its own two
\nfeet.<\/p>",
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