Jayakarta Tower Hotel workers resume work

JAKARTA (JP): Employees of the four-star Jayakarta Tower Hotel on Jl. Hayam Wuruk in downtown area resumed work yesterday after the hotel management met some of their demands.

"The workers have reported to work again after the management agreed to meet their demands," R. Pasaribu, the hotel's spokesman told the Jakarta Post.

At least 200 workers of the hotel went on strike Monday, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight workers who were fired by the hotel management for undisclosed reasons.

The agreement was reached on Monday afternoon after tough negotiations between the hotel's SPSI (All Indonesian Workers Union) chapter and the management.

"Although the management has not fulfilled all of our demands, we agreed to resume work so the hotel wouldn't be paralyzed," said Adi Sumarno, secretary of the hotel's SPSI.

Sumarno said the management agreed to reinstate eight workers who were dismissed recently without severance pay and increased the basic salary of new employees to the Rp 3,800-per-day minimum level set by the government.

"The management finally thought it was better to reinstate the old workers than recruit new ones, who may take more money to train," said Pasaribu.

The workers said the management had dismissed eight of their co-workers, all of whom had been on the job for more than three years, without giving them any severance pay.

They were also disappointed that of the hotel's 465 employees, 49 received wages lower than the government-set minimum wage of Rp 3,800 a day although the 49 have worked there for more than three years.

Aside from the demands for higher salaries and reinstatement of the eight workers, the workers had voiced other concerns during Monday's strike. Many said that hotel management practiced an unfair policy over older workers in the establishment.

Kamidjan, chief of the hotel's SPSI, said the management appreciated new employees more than the old ones. Kamidjan explained how a new employee graduated from a hotel academy and was paid Rp 250,000, while an old one, who was also a hotel academy graduate, received only a half of that wage.

"As a result, social jealousy spreads among workers. This impacts on the company's performance," Kamidjan said.

Pasaribu refused to reveal if the management had also dealt with that problem. (jsk/06)