Shangri-La management's row with hotel union continues

JAKARTA (JP): Disputing Shangri-La hotel management and the hotel's labor union lashed out at each other on Friday over what each claimed were illegal actions perpetrated by the other.

The hotel's general manager Peter Carmichael claimed that the House of Representatives Commission VII on manpower and social welfare affairs had concluded during a hearing last week that the union members had acted illegally and against the principles of the labor movement.

"The commission added that the existing collective labor accord ... should be followed," Carmichael said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The labor agreement was signed by both the management and the union on Dec. 13, 1999, was reconfirmed on Oct. 20, 2000 and is valid until December of this year.

The current labor dispute began when some 420 hotel employees affiliated to the Shangri-La Hotel Independent Workers' Union (SPMS) staged strikes between Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 of last year to demand better conditions. They also occupied the hotel, causing it to halt its operations.

Carmichael said that the hotel regretted the union's illegal actions as the management had made "sustained efforts to resolve the impasse and acted in good faith."

A request to dismiss those who acted illegally has been submitted for approval to the manpower ministry office, he added.

Separately, the lawyer representing the SPMS, Rita Olivia, accused the hotel management of illegally suspending the union's chairman Halilintar Nurdin.

"The House concluded that Halilintar's suspension was illegal," Rita, who heads the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH)'s labor division, claimed.

She said the management's decision to recruit temporary workers to take the place of the protesting union workers was illegal.

Specifically, she accused the management of breaching article 28 of the Labor Unions Law No. 21/2000 for obstructing the union's activities. The violation carries a maximum punishment of between one year and five years in jail or a fine of between Rp 100 million and Rp 500 million.

Meanwhile, hundreds of the union's members continued to rally in front of the hotel on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Central Jakarta on Friday.

Wearing white headbands and carrying posters, the workers demanded access to their union office in the hotel's basement.

"We received information that our office was being used as a storeroom for dishes," one of the workers, Timron Nababan, said.

But the management, through a human resources officer, said that the office was sealed by police after the hotel's temporary closure on account of the strike. (jun)