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.