I refer to an article in your newspaper on May 4, 1994, about the labor disturbance at our hotel and would like to verify your report. I am surprised that a prestigious newspaper like yours would just take for granted what R. Pasaribu was telling your correspondent.

I can assure you that, whoever this person was, they were not a spokesman of the hotel. Although we have a person by that name who works here, she is not part of the Public Relations staff at hotel. Even if she was, she had no right whatsoever to give a false statement to the press.

Furthermore, what took place could not be called a strike as only a small percentage of our staff staged a walk-out, which was not for the reason you stated. Nobody was fired or dismissed for undisclosed reasons. The staff in question were all contract workers and it was our legal right not to extend their contracts. Unfortunately, negotiations regarding the staff in question -- whether or not to extend their contracts -- were ongoing during my absence and I must admit, unfortunately, through a miscommunication, the walk-out happened the day upon my return from an extended sales trip.

I will not comment on the other subjects mentioned in your paper as I feel they are not connected to the walk-out of some of our staff which, I may add, was illegal. However, the Management believes that an employee is judged by his/her performance and knowledge and not on how long one has been working with us.

PETER A. VALTAN

General Manager

Jayakarta Tower Hotel

Jakarta