HongkongBank employees seek salary rise

JAKARTA (JP): More than 200 Hongkong Bank employees in Central Jakarta went on strike indefinitely yesterday, in protest against the management's refusal to raise their salaries and provide them with better facilities.

The action started in the afternoon following a meeting between the company's unit of the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), the Hongkong Bank management and manpower ministry officers, at the ministerial office.

Holding up banners which read "We are only treated as robots", and "Our patience is over," some of the protesters flocked to the fourth floor of the World Trade Center building to hear the results of the meeting.

Head of the company's SPSI unit Ugianto said the workers proposed an 8.6 percent salary increase as well as better medical allowances, housing loans and pension fund.

Despite repeated talks with the management and the Manpower Ministry officers, none of their requests have been met by the management, Ugianto claimed.

He said the strike would continue until their demands had been met.

Although the three parties have discussed the Collective Labor Agreement (CLA) 12 times since the employees went on strike for two days in January, no agreement has been reached.

Revision

The last agreement expired in December and should have been revised in line with an accord between the workers and the management, Ugianto said.

"In our latest discussion with the Manpower Ministry officers this morning, the management insisted that it would not raise the workers' salaries and even proposed elimination of some points in our CLA," he said.

However, the bank's Public Relations Manager, Leila Djafaar, said yesterday that the workers had violated their agreement by going on strike as the negotiations were still on-going.

She said the management has in fact kept increasing staff salaries in the past to meet rising living standard costs. "But now they have higher salaries compared to employees working for other banks," she said.

Contrary to what the workers had said, she said "the management has in fact agreed to give them a five percent increase."

She said despite the workers' threats that they would continue to strike until their demands are fulfilled, the bank would serve its customers as usual. Around 150 contract workers at the bank worked as usual yesterday.

Calling the strike 'illegal', Leila said the management would take stern action against the protesters. This might include dismissing the striking workers. (03)