HongkongBank case top priority: Ministry official

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)