HongkongBank dismisses 189 employees

JAKARTA (JP): The management of HongkongBank has decided to dismiss 189 employees following a two-week strike.

"The South Jakarta Chapter of the Ministry of Manpower received notification from the management yesterday that we have all resigned. Some of us received notices that we were no longer employed from the management today," Ugianto, head of the company's unit of the All Indonesia Workers' Union said yesterday.

Apart from the 189 workers, the management also proposed that 11 officials of the company's union unit be dismissed. The proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Manpower office on April 17, Ugianto added.

More than 200 HongkongBank employees have been on strike since April 17, following a deadlock in negotiations with the management over the revision of their Collective Labor Agreement.

The striking workers told reporters at the bank that they would be on strike until the management meets their demands, which are an 8.9 percent general salary increase and better medical and housing loans and a pension fund program.

Despite repeated talks with the management and mediating ministry officials since January, none of their requests have been met by the management.

The bank's public relations manager, Leila Djafar, said earlier that the management would not increase their salary because "their wages are at the highest standard of all banks in the country."

The management called the strike illegal because negotiations with the manpower ministry were still going on.

She warned that the strike could lead to dismissals.

Leila acknowledged yesterday that the management had submitted the names of 189 striking employees to the manpower ministry as having resigned. The firm considers them to have resigned because they were absent from work for more than five days.

She also confirmed that the management has sent letters to the 189 employees, announcing their resignation as a result of their prolonged absence.

"Under government regulations, a worker is considered to have resigned if he has been absent from work for at least five consecutive days without a written explanation giving a valid excuse," Leila told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Ugianto rejected the action, saying that the regulation does not apply under the existing conditions. "We can see that we don't have normal conditions in this case," he said.

Leila said the final decision on the management's decision is in the hands of the manpower ministry.

"We are waiting for the answer to our proposal from the ministry," she said. (03)