Employees complain over unfair treatment

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)