Court rules in favor of fired workers
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, West Java
Hundreds of fired workers from state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) welcomed the Jakarta State Administrative High Court's (PTTUN) verdict, which requires the Bandung-based company to reinstate its employees and pay their salaries for the dispute period.
The panel of judges who presided over the case overturned the decision made by the Central Committee for Labor Dispute Settlement (P4P) last month, which accepted the management's decision to fire the workers.
Gathering near the company's factory gates on Wednesday, the workers agreed that they would travel to Jakarta to press the government to comply with the verdict.
Deputy chairman of PT DI's trade union Hadio Pramono said the employees had gathered together to thank God for the favorable verdict.
"We have been waiting for justice for eight months. It looks like (the law) is on our side," he said, adding that the dismissed workers would fight to uphold justice.
Chairman of P4P Sabar Sianturi declined to comment on the court verdict, saying that P4P, which was being sued by the labor union, had not been asked to attend the trial.
"I won't comment at present because P4P has yet to receive a copy of the verdict," he said.
The management of PT DI, with the support of the government had fired 6,650 of 9,350 workers due to financial problems, which had plagued the company since 1997. The government had agreed to disburse US$5 million for severance pay for the dismissed workers.
The fired workers opposed the management's decision, saying that the government should reshuffle the management as the company's financial woes had resulted from mismanagement, inefficiency and past corruption. They said the management should be accountable for the misappropriation of between Rp 2 billion and Rp 3 trillion over the last seven years.
Meanwhile, PT DI management said that it would appeal the court verdict with the Supreme Court.
General affairs director of PT DI Muhammad Nuril Fuad said that the management was still consulting with its team of lawyers.
He insisted that his company could not comply with the verdict as it was only able to pay around 3,000 workers at present, albeit, that the government had committed to helping the company pay the remaining 6,000.
He also said that the court had never invited the management to attend the trial.
PT DI president Edwin Soedarmo said in Jakarta that PT DI was seeking credit worth $39 million from banks, both at home and overseas, to resume its contracts with many sides, including British Aerospace.
According to him, many banks were committed to providing PT DI with loans.