Obstructing labor unions is a crime: lawyer said

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)