Shangri-La rejects hiring ex-workers

Shangri-La rejects hiring ex-workers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As a group of former Shangri-La workers continued its
demonstrations in front of the hotel demanding their jobs back,
the hotel management said on Thursday that re-hiring was not a
viable option.

The hotel considers as final the decision of the government-
sanctioned Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes
in May to allow the Shangri-La to lay off its protesting workers,
and therefore considers the prolonged issue to be settled ,
according to senior manager Wastu Widanto.

The hotel refused to rehire the 81 people as they had violated
its working agreement by staging demonstrations against the
management, he said.

A total of 606 workers were in dispute with the hotel over
their demands for better working conditions.

They staged a protest in December last year, causing the hotel
to halt its operations for three months.

Currently there are 81 ex-workers belonging to the Shangri-La
Independent Labor Union (SPSM) who are contesting the Committee's
decision. Valentinus Wagiyo, the leader of the SPSM said they
were also demanding to have their reputations cleared by the
Shangri-La. SPSM claimed that the Shangri-La had issued a "black
list" containing the names of people who had participated in the
demonstrations.

Shangri-La denied the allegation, saying that the hotel would
never do such a thing.