Former Shangri-La workers threaten to picket hotel

Former Shangri-La workers threaten to picket hotel

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Shangri-La Independent Worker
Union (SPSM) threatened on Wednesday to spoil the hotel's
reopening on Saturday with a rally.

SPSM chairman Halilintar Nurdin said the move would be taken
in response to the Shangri-La management's failure to respect the
ongoing negotiations aimed at resolving their three-month-old
labor dispute.

"We will establish a picket-line until all of our demands are
met, including the reemployment of workers," Halilintar told The
Jakarta Post.

His statement came after a meeting between representatives of
SPSM and Shangri-La management at the Ministry of Transmigration
and Manpower office in Jakarta failed to take place earlier in
the day.

The hotel's management has announced its plan to resume
operations on Saturday. Spokesperson for the hotel chain, Julia
Record, told the Post that the hotel has recruited 350 new
employees to replace workers dismissed for illegal strike action,
which resulted in the hotel's temporary closure.

Record said the hotel's rooms and most supporting facilities
have been ready to operate, noting further direct and indirect
losses the hotel may suffer.

She said, during the dormancy some 500 employees who did not
take part in the strike received their salaries.

The hotel management, Record said, insisted that the strike
violated the collective labor agreement and said the SPSM's
demand for a salary hike was groundless because the lowest wage
of Shangri-La employees was four times the then-minimum regional
monthly wage of Rp 390,000.

Halilintar said the hotel management did not show good will
for recruiting new employees and regretted its failure to attend
Wednesday's meeting.

Some 400 members of the SPSM, which is affiliated to the
Indonesian Hotel Independent Workers Unions Federation, visited
the manpower office on Jl. Prapatan, Central Jakarta, for the
talks.

The federation's advocacy chairman Hamonangan Saragih also
regretted the absence of Shangri-La management at the meeting,
which should have been focused on the workers' salaries.

"Since the strike began on Dec. 22, as many as 570 employees
of the Shangri-La have not been paid," Saragih, who is also an
employee of Jakarta's Regent Hotel, said.

He claimed the salary of Shangri-La employees remained below
the official minimum monthly wage of Rp 390,000. He said the
employees enjoyed a relatively large take-home pay, because the
hotel management included the service charge in the salary.

Negotiations between the disputed parties was rescheduled for
March 21, Saragih said, adding that the manpower office had
summoned the hotel's management for the talks. (jun)