Employees complain over unfair treatment

JAKARTA (JP): Seven employees yesterday filed a complaint over being laid of by the oil service company PT Dimas Utama with City Council's Commission E, which is in charge of people's welfare.

Teguh Suharto, spokesman for the employees, told reporters that the company had laid off 12 employees without any warning or permission from the South Jakarta chapter of the ministry of manpower.

Three of the seven representatives who filed the complaint were part of the 12 workers laid off while the other four are still legally registered as the firm's employees.

"The firing was made in an attempt to foil workers' efforts toward the establishment of a joint agreement on a working environment, sponsored by the company's chapter of the All- Indonesian Workers Association (SPSI)," Teguh said, former purchasing manager of the company.

According to the company, Teguh said, dismissal of the 12 employees, effective as of Dec. 1, was aimed at reducing the number of its employees.

However, this reason was rejected by Teguh due to the fact that the company is still accepting new employees. The firm even managed to raise the salaries of their employees, he said.

According to Teguh, PT Dimas Utama, located on Jl. Tebet Barat Dalam in South Jakarta, employs 120 workers and has a number of customers, including Maxus, Arco and Total.

Teguh explained that the laid-off employees will receive only 50 percent of their salaries for the next six months until the ministry of manpower "gives permission to fire us permanently."

"What we demand here is just, fair treatment," said Teguh, who is also chairman of the SPSI chapter of the company.

Gandung Atmaji, an executive from the company, told The Jakarta Post over the phone yesterday that the decision to lay off the 12 employees was based on the fact that the oil and gas business is in sluggish condition.

"The firing was not intended to sabotage SPSI. Actually the company is still supporting negotiations for the establishment of the joint agreement on working conditions," Gandung said.

He reiterated that the dismissal was intended to help improve the company's efficiency.

He admitted that notification was given to them late because the company's head of human resources department was on leave at that time. (yns)