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)