Court starts hearing RCTI employees' lawsuit

JAKARTA (JP): The first hearing session of a legal battle between the management of private television station RCTI and its employees started at the West Jakarta District Court on Thursday.

The plaintiffs, 13 non-editorial RCTI staff members, challenged the legality of the management's decision to relieve the employees from their duties and refuse to recognize their workers' union.

The plaintiff's lawyers, Johnson Panjaitan and Erick S. Paat, read out the lawsuit in the hearing session, presided over by Judge Puguan Alam.

"The RCTI management lacked the legal grounds to free the plaintiffs from their jobs," Panjaitan said.

He quoted Article 6 of Law No. 22/1957 on Labor Dispute Settlements, saying, "labor disputes must be discussed in a meeting between the employers, the workers and representatives of the local office of the Ministry of Manpower".

Meanwhile, Paat said the RCTI management failed to prove it had the grounds to refuse to recognize the workers' union.

He quoted Article 28 of the 1945 Constitution, on freedom of speech and expression, and Article 11 of Law No. 14/1969 on Manpower Affairs.

"Every worker has the right to establish a workers' union and become a member of the union," he said, referring to the 1969 law.

Both Panjaitan and Paat demanded that the RCTI management pay Rp 13 billion (US$1.9 million) to compensate the plaintiffs' for immaterial losses and an additional Rp 51.5 million for material losses.

They also asked the judges to revoke the management's March decree, which ordered the plaintiffs to stay away from active involvement in their jobs.

Uvie Musfirotun, RCTI's lawyer, asked the presiding judge to adjourn the court session until Aug. 19.

"We need time to go over the plaintiff's demands," she said.

The presiding judge rejected Uvie's request and decided to continue the hearing next Thursday. (asa)