Obstructing labor unions is a crime: lawyer said

JAKARTA (JP): Employers tend to try to block the establishment of labor unions, and this is a violation of the law, the head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) labor unit Rita Olivia said on Friday.

"Blocking the establishment of a labor union is a crime as stipulated by Article 43 (2) of the Labor Union Law No. 21/2000. The workers could report it to the police," Rita told The Jakarta Post.

Those violating the law could face a jail term of between one and five years, and a fine of between Rp 100 million (US$10,526) and Rp 500 million.

The law also authorizes the police and the Ministry of Manpower to investigate any case involving an attempt to prevent the setting up of a labor union, she said.

Hampering a union's activities is also against the law, she added.

LBH Jakarta, which is representing the Shangri-La Hotel Independent Workers Union, will sue the hotel management for violating the law, Rita said.

The Shangri-La hotel has halted its operations following a strike on Dec. 22 staged by the workers, who were demanding better conditions of employment and pay.

According to Rita, the management had hampered the union's activities, including suspending the union's chairman, which then led to the strike.

On Dec. 28, the employers reported the case to the police.

As many as 420 members of the union, which is affiliated to the International Union for Food, Hotels and Restaurants (IUF), are facing dismissal because of joining the strike.

Both the workers and the management are scheduled to meet at the office of the Ministry of Manpower on Monday after they failed to reach an agreement during a meeting with members of the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Rita said her institute was also considering taking legal action against the management of Panin Bank for allegedly harassing union members.

She said dozens of members of the Panin Bank Workers Union (SPBP) were reportedly intimidated and asked to leave the union by the management.

Some of the members were transferred to other branches or were faced with dismissal while others were threatened that their salaries would not be increased if they remained members of the union, she said.

LBH Jakarta, which is representing the union, has invited the management to discuss the issue but the invitation has been rejected, Rita said.

The bank's management could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Meanwhile, LBH's vice director Surya Tjandra said that employers or management preferred to discuss labor disputes with workers through the offices of the Ministry of Manpower as the ministry officials often took the side of the employers.

The Shangri-La hotel management had earlier refused to discuss the dispute with the workers in a bipartite meeting excluding Ministry of Manpower officials.

"In many cases, the ministry will often defend the employers. So, the employers are able to easily dismiss their workers," Surya said.

He said in that in the Shangri-La case, the union found a bill stating that the hotel management had spent Rp 5 million on "manpower fees"

Both the hotel management and ministry officials denied the charge. (jun)