HongkongBank dismisses 189 employees

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)