HongkongBank employees seek salary rise

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)