Court rules in favor of PT DI workers over suspensions

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The Bandung Administrative Court in West Java ruled on Thursday that the trial must continue for president director of PT Dirgantara Indonesia Edwin Soedarmono, who was sued for suspending more than 9,000 employees of the state-owned aircraft company.

The panel of judges turned down Edwin's defense plea against a lawsuit filed by the company's labor union Workers Communication Forum (FKK) over the suspension.

Edwin and two other directors signed a decree ordering the closure of the company and the five-month suspension of its 9,643 workers on July 11, 2003. It was not signed by the other two directors.

Under the lawsuit, the workers asked the court to annul the company's decision.

Judge Arpani Mansyur said the court dismissed Edwin's plea, read out on Aug. 7 by his lawyer Monang Saragih, which demanded the lawsuit be rejected because it lacked legal grounds.

Monang had said the decision to suspend the workers was taken to save the company from bankruptcy as it suffered financial problems.

Citing Article 48 of Law No. 5/1986, he said a local administrative court had no authority to try an administrative dispute at a state-owned company. Only the Jakarta State Administrative Court is authorized to do so, he added.

In response, Arpani said that what was being tried by his court was a labor, not administrative, dispute.

"Because there is no labor law for state-owned companies, we have the right to try it (PT DI's labor case)," he added.

Arpani said the trial would resume on Aug. 21 to hear comments from the accused and his lawyers.

He said the judges also asked Edwin to allow the workers to have access to public facilities in the company, such as health services, and to take their personal goods left at the company.

The court verdict received cheers and applause from thousands of workers who packed the courtroom.

The suspension has sparked daily protests since July 11, with workers staging rallies outside the company's compound and other areas in Bandung.

However, several days after the company's closure Edwin decided to allow at least 3,000 of its workers to gradually return to work.