Shoemaker mulls court's decision
JAKARTA (JP): A shoe company producing Nike footwear is considering whether to meet the demands of 19 former employees who a court awarded compensation and instructed the company to reemploy, a company executive said.
"Besides that, we also should coordinate with the Ministry of Manpower to discuss the case," human resources manager Agus Wiyanto of PT Eltri Indo Footwear, a subcontractor for Nike footwear, told The Jakarta Post Friday after a meeting with the former workers and their lawyer.
Agus insisted that the company's executives would be willing to meet with the former employees on Friday to reveal Eltri's decision.
The workers of the Serang-based (West Java) company demanded Eltri pay compensation totaling Rp 150 million (US$1,187) to the 19 workers.
"If the company does not want to reemploy them, the workers need compensation and severance pay," Jakarta Legal Institute lawyer Surya Chandra, who acted as the workers' lawyer, told the Post on the same occasion.
According to the employees, they and five other colleagues were suspended five years ago following a massive two-day demonstration by some of the company's 6,500 workers in August 1992.
They demanded the company increase the basic salary from Rp 2,100 a day to Rp 2,600 a day in accordance with a manpower regulation at the time.
After the police completed an investigation into the protest, including by searching the employees' rented houses, the company -- formerly called PT Sung Hwa Dunia -- suspended the 24 employees in January 1993 for allegedly masterminding the demonstration, Surya said.
Out of the 24 workers, 19 of them immediately visited the legal institute and asked the lawyers to discuss the dispute with the company and the Labor Dispute Settlement Committee of the Ministry of Manpower.
In response, the committee, both its local office and the ministry, ordered the company to compensate the workers for the amount of time they were suspended and rehire them, Surya said.
The company then submitted a proposal to then manpower minister Abdul Latief to request a veto of the committee's decision, he added.
In February 1994, Latief hailed the firm's proposal and canceled the committee's decision, which led the workers to file a suit with the Jakarta Administrative Court, he said.
The court decided on April 24, 1995 to cancel the minister's decision and urged the company to pay compensation and rehire the workers.
Surya said the court decision had been upheld by the Jakarta State High Administrative Court and later by the Supreme Court.
After the tripartite meeting on Friday, Surya said the firm's executives apparently did not accept the Supreme Court's decision and was attempting to lodge an appeal. (jun)