Dirgantara workers protest dismissal decision
Dirgantara workers protest dismissal decision
The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Thousands of employees of state-owned aerospace company PT
Dirgantara Indonesia took to the streets on Wednesday to protest
the government's decision to dismiss 6,000 workers.
"Why are we the victims of this mismanagement?" AM Bone,
secretary of the Workers Communication Forum (FKK), asked during
the demonstration in front of the company's headquarters in
Bandung, West Java.
He said the company's management should have implemented
serious efficiency measures to try and salvage the company before
deciding to fire workers.
"We demand the government provide us with new jobs," he said.
At a shareholders meeting on Tuesday, the government agreed to
the dismissals as part of an overall restructuring program to
salvage the ailing company from bankruptcy. The company will only
retain about 2,673 workers, to be reselected by independent
consultants.
Dirgantara, previously known as PT Industri Pesawat Terbang
Nusantara, started as a costly pet project of then minister of
technology B.J. Habibie. Several years after its establishment in
the 1980s, the aircraft maker was on the verge of bankruptcy
until the government of then president Soeharto stepped in and
bailed out the company.
On July 11 of this year, Dirgantara president Edwin Soedarmo
announced that all workers would be laid off as the company's
financial condition worsened. However, the decision was postponed
by the government following massive protests.
The FKK also filed a lawsuit against the dismissals with the
State Administrative Court in Bandung and is awaiting a decision.
"We are waiting for the court's ruling," Bone said.
He added, however, that employees might accept the decision to
lay off some of them, but insisted that the recruitment process
for the 2,673 workers to be retained must be fair, and that the
severance pay must be announced transparently.
The company's management has allocated about US$54 million to
finance a human resources restructuring program, including $42
million for severance pay. The money would come from the sale of
assets and from the government.
Edwin has said that the retrenchment program and other
restructuring measures, including consolidating the company's 28
business units into only four core units, as well as a financial
restructuring that would see its main creditor, the Indonesian
Bank Restructuring Agency, obtain a 93 percent stake in the
company, will hopefully turn Dirgantara around by 2005.
The restructuring program is also crucial in a bid to obtain
about $39 million in fresh money from investors for working
capital to complete ongoing projects.