Banks under fire for obstructing labor unions

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and a federation of bank labor unions (Aspek Indonesia) were united on Friday in deploring the actions of Bank Panin and Bank Mayapada managements in obstructing their respective labor unions.

Speaking at a joint media conference, LBH Labor Division head Rita Olivia said that they wished to express their concern and regret at the decisions taken by the two banks to dismiss and punish union members.

"The banks have engaged in intimidation and are applying anti- union policies. These are against the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention," Rita told reporters.

She said the banks had also violated article 28 of the Labor Unions Law No. 21/2000 which forbids anyone from obstructing the establishment of a labor union or its activities.

She urged Bank Panin and Bank Mayapada to stop intimidating members of the Panin Bank Workers Union (SPBP) and the Mayapada Bank Workers Union (SPKBM).

The government should implement thorough monitoring and afford protection for workers so that they could exercise their rights to establish labor unions, she said.

The managements of the two banks could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Meanwhile, Aspek's secretary general Saepul Tavip said that at least 20 members and executives of the SPBP had been reprimanded, transferred and, one of them, dismissed in December of last year because of their activities in the union.

Tavip said that all five executives of the SPKBM were also dismissed in August last year for similar reasons.

He said the banks' managements rejected the existence of the unions, despite the fact that they had already been registered at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, and had set up their own puppet labor unions instead.

"By establishing the splinter puppet unions masquerading as real unions, the managements hope they will be able to control the workers," Tavip said.

The workers' dismissals are still being processed by the ministry's Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4P), he explained.

Tavip said Aspek, an affiliate of Union Network International (UNI) of Switzerland, would continue to help the workers negotiate with management.

Rita said that the unions would consider taking an action against the bank managements for violating the Labor Unions Law if they refused to negotiate.

Violation of the law carries a punishment of between one year and five years in jail or a fine of between Rp 100 million and Rp 500 million.

"We have visited the banks, but we were ignored. However we will continue asking the banks to discuss the matter," she said.

The managements claimed to have forwarded the matter to the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, Rita said, adding that the government had a tendency to take the management side. (jun)