Labor unions pledge support for Garuda strike plan

Labor unions pledge support for Garuda strike plan

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Condemning Garuda Indonesia management's move to close the
offices of the Association of Garuda Flight Attendants (Ikagi),
labor unions threw their full support behind the employees'
planned strike this weekend.

The chairman of the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers
Unions (KSPSI), Jacob Nuwa Wea, said on Wednesday that the strike
was the last resort to make the national flag carrier respect the
flight attendants' basic rights and put an end to discrimination
in the workplace.

"The flight attendants have no other alternative except to go
on strike as the efforts to settle the dispute through bipartite
and tripartite forums have ended in deadlock. Besides, workers
are allowed to strike under the manpower legislation," said Nuwa
Wea, who is also a former manpower minister.

He expressed concern about the forcible closure of the Ikagi offices,
which he said was a violation of the freedom to organize as
guaranteed under ILO Convention No. 87, the 1945 Constitution and
the Labor Unions Law.

"This unilateral act could be counterproductive and jeopardize
the company's image both at home and overseas." Nuwa Wea said.

The flight attendants have been demanding pay increases based
on their skills, performance and work experience -- something
that Garuda pilots have already received. A flight attendant who
has been working for 12 years, for example, receives only Rp 2
million per month.

Garuda conceded the pilots demands after they threatened to go
on strike.

Garuda management has prepared a contingency plan involving
the recruiting of flight attendants from other companies in order
to maintain its services during the strike.

Separately, the chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian
Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI), Rekson Silaban, said the
transportation union would show its solidarity with the flight
attendants.

"The attendants are demanding their rights under the law. They
will have the support of employees from other airlines and the
unions." he said.

Nuwa Wea and Rekson suggested that the government heed the
flight attendants demands.

Nuwa Wea, who helped settle the dispute between Garuda and the
pilots, said the management was turning a blind eye to the
conditions in which the attendants had to work, which had
worsened since the financial crisis of 1998.

Dozens of Garuda flight attendants submitted a complaint to
the police in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, about the forced closure
of their offices. Dozens of others made final preparations for
the strike at the union's new offices in Pamulang, Tangerang.

"The necessary preparations are almost completed. We now have no
other choice but to walk off the job as there is no sign that
management will meet our demands," Ikagi chairman Zainuddin Malik
said.

Ikagi also reported the Garuda management to the police at
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Wednesday for alleged
intimidation against protesting workers.

Aryo Budi Santoso, Ikagi secretary-general, said Garuda
officials had put up notices and sent text messages to employees
warning them not to strike.

The notices, according to Aryo, asks those who will not
participate in the Aug. 12 -- Aug. 14 strike to contact Garuda's
operations director Ari Safari by Aug. 10 at the latest. In the
text messages, the management warned that employees who
participated in the strike would be punished.