237 fired PTDI workers receive severance pay

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, West Java

The Jakarta State Administrative High Court (PTTUN) has decided to delay its ruling, not as reported on Thursday, while the management of state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) is unlikely to reinstate its workers, as 237 of the total 6,651 dismissed workers have already received severance pay.

PTDI president Edwin Soedarmo said here on Thursday that the 237 were among 1,300 dismissed workers who had accepted their dismissal and fulfilled the necessary administrative requirements for payment.

"We hope that the dismissal process will be completed in March so that we can concentrate on our program to salvage the company," he said.

He added that the company had received US$66.5 million from the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA) for severance pay.

The company fired 6,651 of its 9,350 workers following financial problems it had experienced since 1997. The ailing company -- founded by former minister of research and technology BJ Habibie in 1988 -- had suffered during the prolonged financial crisis in the late 1990s, encountering difficulties in marketing its products both at home and overseas.

Edwin said that the company would not wait for the verdict before continuing with the dismissals. He claimed the delay favored the ruling of the Central Committee for Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4P).

Edwin denied reports that a verdict had been issued on the case, saying that according to his lawyers, the court had asked P4P to delay acting on its decision to allow the judges presiding over the case more time to reach a verdict.

It had earlier been reported by the media, including The Jakarta Post, that the court had overturned P4P's decision.

In a plenary session on Feb. 28, P4P had agreed to support the decision to dismiss the workers.

Edwin said that his company would appeal the verdict with the Supreme Court if PTTUN overturned P4P's decision.

Around 1,000 dismissed workers staged a rally near the company's compound on Jl. Sudirman in Bandung on Thursday, demanding that the company reinstate them and pay their salaries and annual bonus over the period since the dispute began in July 2003.