Poor reporting on Garuda
The facts reported in The Jakarta Post regarding the Garuda pilots' pay dispute with the management have fluctuated radically in the past few weeks.
On Jan. 25, according to the Post, Garuda management claimed that pilots received "about 40 percent" of total wage payments. On Jan. 26, without explanation, that figure was cut by half to 20 percent. Since then, no estimate has been included in the Post reports.
On Jan. 25, the management claimed 628 pilots flew for Garuda, or over 9 percent of the total workforce including "over 6,000 other employees". But the following day the same management spokesperson claimed pilots comprised only 6.6 percent of the total Garuda workforce.
For weeks the Post reported that pilots currently receive between Rp 7.9 million and Rp 22.8 million per month. But on Feb. 10, the Post reported pilots now receive between Rp 5.5 million and Rp 22.5 million.
Also in the article the writer reported "... management agreed to pay the pilots and co-pilots at an amount slightly lower than their demands but the pilots stuck to their demands". But according to the Post on Feb. 8, the Garuda Pilots Association had reduced its demand significantly in the previous week, from a range of Rp 47.1 million to Rp 88.8 million, to between Rp 13.8 million and Rp 24.1 million.
At the same time, however, according to the Post, management changed its offer from between Rp 13 million to Rp 24.6 million (Jan. 26), to between Rp 13.1 million to Rp 22.7 million, an apparent reduction from their previous offer to the most experienced pilots. According to the Post's other reports then, management is the side that failed to move toward compromise.
Can passengers believe Garuda is doing the most it can to retain quality pilots at these pay rates? What is management's real attitude toward safety?
The Post reported on several occasions that Garuda management claimed it had a "contingency plan" in case of a strike, and that only about 20 of 686 pilots (again, their number has changed) supported the union's strike plan. But on Feb. 8 and Feb. 10 the Post reported that Garuda was asking the police to step in to stop the strike. Is that the "contingency plan" management came up with: Reverting to the days when strikes were broken by police?
RUDY PORTER, Field Representative, American Center for International Labor Solidarity, Indonesia Office, Jakarta
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