Discotheque employees seek severance pay

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-one employees of Sydney 200 Discotheque on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, West Jakarta, claimed on Monday that they were dismissed without severance pay.

The employees went to the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute to air their complaints.

The spokeswoman for the employees, Asri, said that the employees were arbitrarily dismissed by the discotheque's owner, identified as Ahok, on Dec. 16.

"The discotheque often dismisses its workers ahead of the Christmas or Idul Fitri holidays, possibly to enable it to avoid paying holiday bonuses," Asri said.

According to Asri, the discotheque's management claims that the employees were dismissed due to a sharp decrease in the number of visitors as a result of the prolonged economic crisis.

However, Asri opposed this reason as baseless, stating that the discotheque continued to attract a lot of customers.

"It's not true. You can visit the discotheque and see that hundreds of people still visit this entertainment spot every night, regardless of the economic crisis," she said.

She also said that the workers, who have worked at the discotheque for between three and five years, demanded severance pay according to manpower regulations.

Besides demanding severance pay, the workers also asked for this month's salaries plus their Christmas or Idul Fitri bonuses, she said.

The employees of the discotheque, which is located in the Glodog Jaya building, each earned between Rp 300,000 (US$40) and Rp 500,000 a month, she said.

Asri, who was a receptionist at the discotheque, said that the employees were not asking to be re-employed because they disliked working for the owner.

"Ahok often yelled at us without clear reasons. He also liked to dismiss workers he dislikes by ordering security guards to prohibit them from entering the discotheque when they show up for work," said Asri, who worked at the discotheque for three years.

The discotheque's executives could not be reached for comment on Monday. "They usually come here at night," a telephone operator at the discotheque said.

Surya Tjandra, a lawyer at the institute who is representing the workers, said that he would summon the discotheque executives to discuss the matter on Wednesday. (jun)