HI workers end dispute, reemployment on the cards

HI workers end dispute, reemployment on the cards

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta

After nearly a month of negotiation, workers from Hotel Indonesia
(HI) and Inna Wisata Hotel ended their dispute with the hotel
management company, PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (HIN), by accepting
their dismissals under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on
Monday.

The agreement was reached after a guarantee was made that the
workers would be prioritized as employees at the hotel after its
renovation.

Legislator Rekso Ageng Herman, who has acted as a dispute
facilitator, said former workers would have many opportunities to
be reemployed as they had good experiences in hotel and
restaurant jobs.

"Recruitment selection will be based on the applicants'
skills," he said during the meeting at the House of
Representatives building. "We will assess former workers first
before assessing other applicants."

The MOU was signed by PT HIN president director A.M. Suseto,
PT HIN manpower director Arief Budiman, Jakarta Manpower Agency
head Ali Zubeir and HI workers' union chairman Sahrul Sidiq, with
Herman as a member of the recruitment team.

The two hotels ceased operations on April 30, while all
workers are involved in the dismissal process. Previously, the
workers rejected dismissal, demanding that they automatically be
accepted as new employees at the new hotel.

Suseto said that the number of workers was 1,115, instead of
1,300 as stated previously by the workers union.

He said previously that HI would be renovated to its original
design and reduced the number to around 300 rooms from the
current 600. As for the Inna Wisata Hotel, the building would be
demolished and replaced with a supermall. The two buildings
combined will create at least 8,000 jobs.

The government will hand over management of the hotel and the
supermall to PT Cipta Karya Bumi Indah (CKBI), a subsidiary of
cigarette group Djarum Group.

The handover will be based on a 30-year, build-operate-
transfer (BOT) contract. PT CKBI will invest US$150 million on
the hotel renovation and supermall construction.

According to the MOU document between workers and the
management, the workers will receive severance pay equivalent to
one-and-a-half times the provision as stated at Article 156 of
Law No. 13/2003 on Manpower.

The document also says that other benefits for the dismissed
workers will include a 2004 religious holiday bonus, around Rp
4.5 billion (US$511,363) from the sales of assets, and a pension.

Suseto said the management has made ready about Rp 41 billion
to cover severance pay and other payments. All workers, including
nonpermanent employees, would gain all the benefits as stated in
the MOU.

Meanwhile, security guards and technicians of both hotels
would automatically be recruited as employees for the duration of
the renovation project.