Bank employees urged to form workers unions
Bank employees urged to form workers unions
JAKARTA (JP): Union leaders in the banking sector urged
colleagues on Saturday to form unions in a desperate attempt to
ease the impact of an expected layoff of some 30,000 workers in
the near future.
In a statement on a policy of bank restructuring, the
Association of Banking and Finance Workers Union also urged that
unions be involved in daily banking operations to help ensure
prudential banking.
It said this was needed because the monetary crisis was mainly
caused by a "weakness of bank supervision by the Central Bank of
abuses of authority among bank managements or owners", such as
rampant violation of the legal lending limit.
The statement was issued at the association's first congress,
which was opened here by its chairman, Indratjahja.
Set up last June, unions of at least 18 banks have joined the
association. Many of the country's banks, last listed at 221
banks, do not have unions, the chairman said.
Separately, Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris has reminded bank
managements that all dismissals would have to go by the book,
including negotiations with employees.
Indratjahja estimated 25,000 workers may be laid off from 40
private banks planned to be closed down by the government on Feb.
27.
He said this number excluded the possible dismissal of
thousands of employees of state banks which are to be
restructured and merged soon.
The government is planning to merge Bank Dagang Negara, Bank
Pembangunan Indonesia, Bank Bumi Daya and Bank Expor Impor
Indonesia into a newly established Bank Mandiri.
"The four ailing banks have a total workforce of more than
26,000, of which 10,000 to 12,000 may be laid off," said
Indratjahja after opening the congress in Central Jakarta.
The statement also asserted the association was ready to help
advocate the rights of employees affected by the restructuring
policy and its preparedness to assist the setting up of unions.
It also demanded the involvement of unions to ensure
employees' legal guarantee of rights in the bank restructuring,
which will lead to dismissals.
The union also urged the review of a 1996 rule of the Ministry
of Manpower which regulates minimum severance. In reality,
managements refer to merely the minimum standard, the union said,
which was no longer suitable in the current economic condition.
In Caringin, West Java, after opening a congress by the All-
Indonesia Workers Union Federation on Saturday, the minister said
that according to a 1964 law on worker dismissals, the layoffs
should have prior approval from the Committee for the Settlement
of Labor Disputes.
He added, "Workers to be dismissed should negotiate their
rights, including severance pay, with bank managements."
Fahmi acknowledged that because of the economic crisis, the
government could not do much in preventing the dismissals, while
the only alternatives open for the workers were to enter
entrepreneurial fields or to seek jobs abroad.
Among the banks whose unions have joined the association are
Bank Patriot, Bank Rama, Bank Bintang Manunggal, Deutsche Bank AG
Jakarta, BNP Lippo Indonesia, Bank Sakura Swadarma, Indosuez
Indonesia Bank, Bank Muamalat Indonesia and Bank Tiara Asia.
Indratjahja said poor negotiating skills among employees was
one issue to be immediately tackled through training.
Besides knowledge of rights, legal procedures and companies'
philosophy and financial reports, Indratjahja said, employees
also had to "overcome psychological hindrances, such as being
afraid of the boss..."
Managerial-level employees who remain jobless can perhaps live
on their severance pay for 18 months, but lower-level workers can
live on this for only a half year, he said.
"People may resort to disruptive and undesirable actions in
desperation once their severance pay starts to run out. We have
to curb this together," he said. (edt/rms)