Ex hotel workers to continue rallies

JAKARTA: A labor activist vowed on Monday to continue the struggle for the rights of former Shangri-La hotel employees by regularly staging demonstrations at the hotel until the case was settled.

"We will not retreat back because we feel that we are not guilty," Odie Hudiyanto, secretary of the Independent Labor Union Federation (FSPM), told The Jakarta Post.

Underlining that the former hotel workers always staged peaceful rallies, he denied a statement made by the hotel management that the protests were disrupting public order.

"We've never committed any vandalism, either," he said.

The dispute started in December 2000, when hundreds of hotel employees went on strike to demand better conditions, and were subsequently dismissed by management.

After a long process, most of them accepted their dismissals based upon the compensation package offered by management. But the remaining ex employees brought the case to court, demanding that the hotel reemploy them.

The case is now before the Supreme Court.--JP