Fired cabbies take protest to law school
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)