Garuda pilots not to go on strike
Arya Abhiseka and Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Air travelers can sit back and relax now, as the government has guaranteed that Garuda Indonesia's pilots would not go on strike while they negotiated with the state-owned airline's management.
"The pilots will not be absent from work during the negotiating period, because the labor law does not allow them to do so; should they go on strike, they will not be paid," said Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea on Tuesday.
Ari Sapari, president of the Garuda Pilot Association, confirmed on Wednesday the association had pledged to Jacob that they would not go on strike while negotiations were in progress.
He said the pilots were in a cooling-down stage after weeks of heated debate and national exposure.
The pilots had earlier warned that they would go on full strike Tuesday, but they dropped the plan early Tuesday morning after meeting with State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, who persuaded them to cancel the plan.
"We will submit entirely to the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration and Garuda's management to resolve this dispute," Ari told The Jakarta Post.
Correcting previous press reports which described the dispute between the pilots and management as focused around the salary, Ari said the key point of the dispute was not the gross salary, but the remuneration system.
For example, he said that for a flight, a co-pilot could earn more than the pilot in charge under the existing remuneration system.
"Since the beginning, our aim has been to repair the remuneration system, not to demand higher gross salaries as the management has claimed," he said.
However, he declined to elaborate on the current remuneration system.
The pilots and the management have long been locked in a dispute on the distribution of the Rp 100 billion (US$11.2 million) funds allocated toward salary hikes this year.
Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto said the management had proposed a 32.5 percent salary hike for pilots and a 27 percent hike for workers of other units.
Based on the proposal, Garuda's co-pilots would be paid between Rp 6.5 million and Rp 11.3 million and pilots, between Rp 13.1 million and Rp 22.7 million.
However, Pudjobroto said, the association turned down the proposal, demanding a 39 percent salary hike for pilots and 23 percent for employees of other units. Based on the pilots' proposal, after the salary hike, co-pilots would be paid between Rp 6.9 million and Rp 11.9 million and pilots, between Rp 13.8 million and Rp 24.1 million.
The management refused to the accept the pilots' demand.
"Their demand would simply create disharmony, which we cannot accept in our working environment," he said.
Today, co-pilots are paid between Rp 3.9 million and Rp 17.2 million and pilots are paid between Rp 5.5 million and Rp 22.5 million.
Jacob said he had asked the management to improve the remuneration system to provide higher base salaries to pilots.
"It should be combined with the merit system, by which pilots who are more competent will earn more," he said.
The minister also suggested that administrative and promotional expenses be slashed to boost workers' salaries.
"Why should Rp 1 trillion be allocated to promotion alone?" he asked.
Jacob hoped the pilots would not be too persistent in demanding salary increases, and reasserted that the management should refrain from calling for a police investigation, as the pilots had not committed any crime.