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.