Media groups lack union representation<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Despite widespread coverage of labor rights and trade unions by
\nthe press, it is a tad ironic that almost no mass media companies
\nhave employee unions.<\/p>\n
Research by the Alliance of Independent Journalists last year
\nfound that out of over 1,000 press companies nationwide, only
\nthree had trade unions registered with the Ministry of Manpower
\nand Transmigration.<\/p>\n
\"They were SCTV in Jakarta, Waspada in Medan, and the Surya
\nGroup in Surabaya,\" said Jajang Djamaluddin on Thursday.<\/p>\n
When contacted by The Jakarta Post, however, SCTV said that
\nits trade union had been dissolved, but they refused to say why.<\/p>\n
The scarcity of trade unions in the industry, said Jajang, was
\nmostly the result of an immense fear on the part of company
\nmanagement over a possibility that their power could be
\nundermined.<\/p>\n
\"They also worry that such organization of employees would
\nwaste too much time and effort complaining about greater
\nbenefits, while distracting the employees from their duties,\"
\nsaid Jajang.<\/p>\n
The study also found that 28 media groups had \"quasi-unions\",
\nwhich were informal organizations without legal status.<\/p>\n
Registered trade unions are entitled to question decisions
\nmade by the management and to solicit support from the manpower
\nministry for advocacy and mediation.<\/p>\n
Unlike registered trade unions, informal employee
\norganizations can only act as informal mediators between the
\nmanagement and the employees.<\/p>\n
\"Many of these informal organizations do very little. Unless,
\na critical event occurs such as mass dismissals or bankruptcy,\"
\nJajang said.<\/p>\n
He added that most of the quasi-unions emerged after the 1998
\neconomic crisis when many companies were forced to shut down.<\/p>\n
Jajang said the establishment of a legal trade union in a
\ncompany would be easy to achieve since it could pave the way for
\nthe enactment of a joint working agreement.<\/p>\n
With such an agreement, employees and employers could work in
\ncoordination when drawing up the rights and obligations of each
\nparty. \"Should any party violate the agreement, it would have
\nlegal and recognized rights for litigation,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/media-groups-lack-union-representation-1447893297",
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