Journalists urged to establish unions

Journalists urged to establish unions

JAKARTA (JP): The Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI)
called on the members of the Indonesian press on Thursday to
establish journalist unions at their respective offices, after a
survey revealed that journalists have weak bargaining positions
with their employers.

Presenting a report of its recent survey on Jakarta-based
journalists, AJI disclosed that around 56.5 percent of the
journalists did not know what to do when they were in dispute
with the companies they were working with.

"The survey demonstrates that journalists have not been aware
of the importance of having a union in their respective offices,"
AJI chairman, Lukas Luwarso, said in a press conference held at
the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) on
Jl. Cikini Raya, Central Jakarta.

He said that with the establishment of a union of journalists
within every media company, AJI would expect to become the
umbrella organization for the unions.

The survey showed that only 34.4 percent of the 250
respondents confirmed that their companies allowed them to
establish a union for journalists, while the remaining 65.6
percent gave mixed responses. Some said that they had not
established such unions, while others considered it unnecessary
to form the unions.

Lukas said that most media companies, however, were reluctant
to tell the truth about their journalists' welfare.

"Some companies have marked up the salaries paid to their
reporters or have only allowed AJI to question selected
reporters," he said.

AJI questioned 250 journalists from 70 mass media companies in
Jakarta, between May and June this year. The survey was aimed at
exploring the welfare of journalists and identifying journalist-
employer issues regarding the establishment of unions.

Johnson Panjaitan, a lawyer from the Association of the
Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Protection (PBHI),
supported AJI's poll results.

He said journalists should realize that they were no different
from laborers.

"Through a journalist union, journalists could have collective
bargaining power against their employers," he said.

Head of the reporters association of Kompas daily, Budiman
Tanuredjo, dismissed the importance of establishing a union,
saying that form does not matter, as long as the companies
respond to the employees' aspirations.

Budiman said he had no problems when discussing work
relationship issues with his employers. (03)