PTDI workers demand verdict execution

BANDUNG: Some 2,000 employees of state-owned aerospace firm PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) staged a protest again on Friday at the West Java High Court on Jl. Diponegoro here.

They demanded that the president of the court, Ben Suhanda Syah, order the execution of the verdict handed down by the Bandung District Court, which ruled in favor of the PTDI employees following a hearing last month. The judicial panel stated that the decision by PTDI management to lay off a total of 6,651 employees of the company was unlawful.

The management decision, which was resolved upon during a PTDI shareholders' meeting last year, was unlawful as it was taken in violation of the procedures for the holding of a shareholders' meeting.

Marni Emmy Mustofa, the presiding judge, then ordered the company to rehire the employees, but the execution of the order was postponed while PTDI appealed.

It is now up to the West Java High Court to decide on the matter. Arif Minardi, the chairman of the workers' union, lashed out at the high court for being slow in handing down its decision. -- JP