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)