Bank employees demand payment over dismissal

Bank employees demand payment over dismissal

JAKARTA (JP): At least 100 former employees of suspended Bank
Umum Nasional (BUN) staged a rally at the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute office on Wednesday, urging the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to provide severance pay over their
dismissal.

The employees, consisting of drivers, security guards and
office boys, used to work at the bank which was controlled by
business tycoon Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, but their status was under
the supervision of the bank's worker foundation "Yayasan
Kesejahteraan Karyawan-BUN", Ida Mokodompit, the employees'
spokeswoman, said.

Ida said the bank's assets were taken over by IBRA after the
bank was suspended on Aug. 21 as part of the government's efforts
to restructure the beleaguered banking sector.

She said they demanded the severance payment because the
bank's other employees, such as tellers, cashiers and executives,
have received their payments from the agency, in line with
existing manpower regulations.

"IBRA has refused to give similar severance payments because,
according to the agency, the employees are not BUN employees,"
Ida, who is also the foundation's secretary, said, adding that at
least 750 employees worked for the foundation.

She said BUN's board of directors declared in 1994 that
workers of the foundation had similar rights as other BUN
employees.

Harun Rasyid, one of the protesting employees, who worked as a
driver at BUN's Warung Buncit branch in South Jakarta, said the
employees were paid between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000 per month.

"We were paid by the bank and worked for the bank. The
foundation was owned by the bank. Why doesn't the agency admit
it?" Harun, who had worked at the bank for eight years, said.

The protesters, who wore white bandannas, unfurled a banner
which read: "Pay Attention to Poor People" at the legal aid
institute office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta.

Surya Tjandra, a lawyer of the dismissed employees from the
institute, said that they visited IBRA's office at the Danamon
building on Jl. Sudirman on Tuesday and staged a demonstration
there.

But the agency's lawyer, Kemal Siregar, said IBRA still
rejected the demand, saying that the agency had handed the case
over to the Ministry of Manpower, Surya said.

"We object to the handover of the case to the ministry because
it will lengthen the settlement," he said.

The dismissed employees have pledged to continue holding
rallies at the agency's office until their demands are met.

"We will come in bigger numbers," Surya said. (jun)