Court starts hearing RCTI employees' lawsuit

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)