Fired cabbies take protest to law school

JAKARTA (JP): Eleven dismissed employees of Gamya Taxi and their families visited the Law School of the University of Indonesia in Depok, yesterday, seeking advice on a labor dispute.

"This is our last effort to settle the matter out of court," said Barmen Sinaga Simanjorang, a spokesman for the delegation, at a hearing chaired by the chairman of the student body, Harriza.

Barmen said that he and his friends had already visited the Jakarta Office of the Ministry of Manpower and the Legal Aid Foundation without any results, because negotiations between the employees and the company management ended in a deadlock.

"We don't know anywhere else to go," said Barmen, adding that the 11 drivers wanted to be reinstated by the company.

The drivers were part of a group of 40 employees that were dismissed by PT Gamya Taxi for allegedly organizing a strike that crippled the company's activities last July. More than 200 employees of the transportation company, many of them drivers, went on strike in the taxi pool in Condet, East Jakarta, to protest against the company's refusal not to allow them to form a workers' union.

But Dodi Widodo, an executive of the company at the Condet Pool, told The Jakarta Post that the company had dismissed the 40 employees because had violated the company's regulations on discipline and the payment of daily deposit.

"We have dismissed them because they violated company regulations, not because they wanted to form the workers' union," Widodo said.

Apong Herlina, a lawyer from the Legal Aid Foundation, told the Post that the 11-man delegation visited the law school because they knew that the school has a close relationship with the owner of the company.

PT Gamya Taxi is a subsidiary of Blue Bird Taxi, and is owned by the wife of the late Djokosoetono, one of the founders of the law school.

PT Gamya operates 450 taxis with 600 drivers.

"We hope that the student body can talk to Mrs. Djokosoetono about this matter," said Novri Syamsuddin, one of the 11- delegation member.

Herlina said that the workers had also protested against the company's wage policy and terms of retirement that were considered to be unfair.

Each driver receives a basic monthly salary of Rp 18,000 (US$8.28) plus commission. The commission is an incentive payment, the amount of which largely depends on driver's deposit -- the higher the deposit they get the bigger the incentive they receive.

"The dismissed employees also questioned the company's regulation which requires employees to resign every three years before they can be rehired," Herlina said. (yns)