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.