Workers strike forces Shangri-La to move guests<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The management of the five-star Shangri-La Hotel
\nhad to evacuate their room guests to another hotel and
\ntemporarily close most of its facilities, including its bar and
\nrestaurants, following an all out strike by its workers on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
The strike by some 500 staff, mostly on-duty workers like
\nthose from the Food & Beverage and Room Service units, started at
\nmidday over a prolonged dispute concerning several matters,
\nparticularly their service charges, pension fund, and the
\nsuspension of the hotel workers' union.<\/p>\n
"We plan to stay and sleep in the hotel's lobby until our
\ndemands are met by the management," the union chairman Halilintar
\nNurdin told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Head of the hotel's public relations department Romy
\nHerlambang said: "If both sides fail to settle the problems,
\nwe'll cancel our New Year's Eve party."<\/p>\n
She added that the hotel had also started turning away
\npotential guests.<\/p>\n
According to Romy, the strike had forced the hotel to ask all
\nof its guests to move to the Mandarin Hotel near the Hotel
\nIndonesia traffic circle.<\/p>\n
"We have had to move them since we could not serve them in
\naccordance with the Shangri-La's standards," she said.<\/p>\n
"As of now, there are 20 guests who are still here," she
\nadded, but refused to disclose the precise number of evacuated
\nguests.<\/p>\n
Mandarin hotel on-duty manager Geoffrey said that the Shangri-
\nLa had asked for 40 rooms for its guests due to the strike.<\/p>\n
"But there have only been 10 rooms occupied by the Shangri-La
\nguests so far. Probably, the remaining guests have picked other
\nhotels to stay in," Geoffrey told the Post at 9:40 p.m.<\/p>\n
The 32-story Shangri-La on Jl. Karet Pasar Baru Timur has 668
\nrooms and suites.<\/p>\n
Halilintar said his union had 900 members out of the hotel's
\ntotal workforce of some 1,150.<\/p>\n
During the first day of the strike on Friday, the Korean
\nEmbassy held a New Year fiesta in the hotel's ballroom. The
\nevening party went smoothly.<\/p>\n
"They were served by staff from the administration section,
\nsuch as from the human resources department (HRD) and the sales
\nand accounting department," said one of the HRD staff, Nina, who
\nacted as a waitress for the evening.<\/p>\n
According to Halilintar and his fellow workers, they have at
\nleast 12 demands that they want the hotel management to agree to.<\/p>\n
They include a pension fund, which has yet to be provided,
\nthat service charges be distributed equally, not based on
\nseniority and job level, a THR (Idul Fitri\/Christmas allowance)
\nworth four times their monthly salary, and the lifting of
\nHalilintar's suspension.<\/p>\n
Halilintar has been suspended since Friday based on a letter
\nsigned by the hotel HRD manager, Novianita. Two days earlier,
\nNovianita in a notice posted up in various parts of the hotel
\nordered the workers to take down all of the posters they had
\nerected, or they would be sanctioned.<\/p>\n
When asked for a further explanation, Romy said "No comment".<\/p>\n
"There has been a dialog between our management and the
\nworkers, but no decision has been made," she added.<\/p>\n
But "this strike is really disrupting business in our hotel,"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
It would appear that Friday's strike is the first one in the
\ncapital which has led a hotel's management to evacuate its room
\nguests. (dja\/bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-strike-forces-shangri-la-to-move-guests-1447893297",
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