HongkongBank case top priority: Ministry official

JAKARTA (JP): The dispute at HongkongBank is currently the top priority of the arbitration committee at the Ministry of Manpower, the chairman of the committee said.

I Wayan Nedeng said on Saturday that because the case involves around 200 employees, it is being given priority "over hundreds of other cases".

I Wayan was responding to why the deliberations have taken over two months while 189 employees remain unpaid.

The bank's management considered the employees to have resigned as of April 29, as they had not shown up for work for at least five consecutive days.

HongkongBank's union denied this, saying the employees were on strike.

Both the management and workers are now waiting for a decision from the arbitration committee on the case.

"The case is not an easy one," I Wayan said. "We must consider all kinds of factors," he added, declining to elaborate.

He said it is not possible now for the committee to issue a decision on the matter of salary payment.

"The decision must be part of the whole result of our consensus," I Wayan said, adding that the 15 members of the board had yet to reach a consensus.

Earlier, Leila Djafaar, the public relations officer at HongkongBank, said this was the reason the management could not pay the employees.

The arbitration committee has had three meetings and will convene again this Monday, the chairman said.

Meanwhile, a lawyer said the dismissed employees should try to obtain their rights by reporting to the Ministry of Manpower.

Another way to secure the salaries of 189 employees is to file a lawsuit against the management at the district court, Pardomuan Simandjuntak said yesterday.

Pardomuan works with a non-government organization called the Social Information and Legal Guidance Foundation, which provides legal representation for workers.

"There is no time limit for the committee to reach a decision," Pardomuan said. "This is the weakness of the 1957 law on labor dispute settlements."

The management, he said, would be told to pay their salaries only after the committee reaches a decision.

"But employees can urge the Directorate General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards at the manpower ministry to have the management pay their salaries."

The Director General, Suwarto, had said earlier that the termination of 189 employees is not valid, as permission is required from the arbitration committee to dismiss 10 or more workers.

Pardomuan said this would make it difficult for the committee to decide otherwise.

He added that based on experience, the composition of the committee's 15 members has often been unfavorable to workers.

So far, the composition is five representatives of the All Indonesian Workers Union, five of the Association of Indonesian Employers (Apindo) and another five from the ministry.

"The union representatives are yet to represent workers' interests," Pardomuan said, adding that bargaining skills are also low. "They cannot stand up against Apindo and the ministry people." (anr)