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)