Garuda crew back down on strike threat

Ridwan Max Sijabat and ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta/Surabaya

Garuda Indonesia cabin crew called off their planned strike on Friday despite no deal being struck with the airline's management.

The Association of Garuda Cabin Crew (Ikagi) announced the cancellation early on Friday after members serving domestic and foreign flights ignored the call to strike.

Jacqueline Pechler Langkay, a senior flight attendant, told The Jakarta Post that some cabin crew members were confused by the cancellation.

"We didn't know what was going on before Ikagi chairman Zainuddin Malik called off the strike at 4 a.m. Many flight attendants were disappointed with the unilateral action when no deal had been reached with the management," she said.

Neither Zainuddin nor Ikagi secretary-general Ario M. were available for comment on Friday.

Reliable sources in Ikagi who requested anonymity said that Ikagi called off the strike upon the advice of Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris, Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa and State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto in a marathon meeting late on Thursday.

In Surabaya, a Garuda official offered dozens of journalists free flights to various destinations to prove that the threat of a strike would not affect the airline's operation.

"We are inviting some journalists on flights to see for themselves that our operations are not affected," said Tri Putra Indra Sakti, manager of Garuda's Visual Communication and Multimedia.

More than 2,300 flight attendants planned to strike from Friday through Sunday, after demands for a pay rise and a special collective labor agreement (PKB) were rejected. The move won support from labor unions and the International Transport Federation (ITF).

Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto said that all Garuda flights on Friday ran on schedule and were fully staffed.

"All 100 flights scheduled for Friday took off on time," he said.

He insisted that the management gave no concession to cabin crew and would go ahead with measures to help improve labor conditions for all workers in the company.

"Long before today, the management was convinced that the majority of flight attendants would not heed the call to strike because we were sure that all employees backed the management's measures to improve labor conditions, including the revision of the remuneration system," he said.

Pudjobroto and Tri Putra revealed that the Garuda management had hired foreign financial consultant Watson Wyatt to design a standard remuneration system.

The company's clients include Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand.

Asked if the management would take any measures against those behind the planned strike, Pudjobroto said: "We have our own company rules and everything is stipulated in these regulations."

ITF representative in Indonesia Hanafi Rustandi called Ikagi's decision to cancel the strike a bad precedent.

"We called on labor unions and the Indonesian government to help find a wise settlement to industrial disputes between the management and the flight attendants, especially the level of remuneration for flight attendants, which is far below standard," he said.

Debt-ridden Garuda posted an operating loss of Rp 131 billion (US$13.73 million) in the first quarter of 2005 compared to last year's Rp 74 billion losses.

Garuda is $826.5 million in debt -- of which $522.8 million is owed to European creditors and $109.9 million to Bank Mandiri.