HongkongBank case discussed at arbitration body

JAKARTA (JP): The central board of the arbitration committee, which is attempting to resolve the ongoing dispute between the management and union of HongkongBank, finally reached an agreement yesterday.

It was agreed to discuss the management's request to dismiss 200 employees, Yunus Samad, the chairman of the committee told reporters.

"They have one week to discuss the problem, before they report to us on June 10," Yunus said after the meeting, which was held at the Ministry of Manpower.

The bipartite meeting will discuss the rights and obligations of both management and employees, Yunus said.

The committee will then further consider whether to meet the management's request to dismiss 200 employees.

During this week the situation remains as it was, Yunus said. This means the 11 union leaders and the 200 employees will still draw full salaries, in line with the company's collective labor agreement on rights of suspended workers. The remaining 189 will not be paid as they have refused the management's request to stop striking and go back to work.

The rift between management and employees of the Bank, stems from the negotiations of a new collective labor agreement which was to replace the old one.

A CLA is an agreement between management and a company union on the rights and obligations of workers and management effective for a certain period.

The management had said earlier some of the proposals were "irrational and out of proportion" while employees said their demands were reasonable, and based on "comparative, empirical" studies.

The 11 union representatives were suspended on the grounds of instigating an illegal strike, the management has said.

The management then said they considered 189 employees involved in the strike to have effectively resigned, as they failed to show up for work for five days without notice. This is justification for dismissal according to a 1996 labor law.

Workers had said they were not absent but on strike, demanding the management reinstate their union representatives and continue negotiations of the new collective labor agreement (CLA).

A deadlock resulted as the management had wanted to discuss the dismissal, while workers wanted to discuss the CLA.

Dismissal of more than 10 employees requires the permission of the central board of the committee, under the auspices of the Ministry of Manpower.

"We received the request 10 days ago," Yunus said. The committee summoned both parties on Monday. However, the meeting only came about yesterday, as the union failed to turn up earlier.

"We want this process to be as fast as possible," Sabar Sianturi, the director of Labor Standards at the Ministry.

At the meeting HongkongBank was represented by Joko Sudibyo and Abdulrahman from the management and union representatives, including chairman Ugianto and spokesman Saepul Tavip. Meanwhile many of the 189 employees were waiting outside.

Also present was Wilhelmus Bhoka from the central board of the Federation of the All Indonesian Workers Union. He said he is optimistic the arbitration committee can help, arguing that it "..considers not only legal matters, but the public interest". (anr)