Striking hotel workers run cafe

Striking hotel workers run cafe

By Ahmad Junaidi

JAKARTA (JP): If you don't have much money but would like to
taste five-star hotel food and beverages, try the Warung
Solidaritas (Solidarity Food Stall) which is being run by
striking workers of the Shangri-La Hotel.

But if you do go to the street cafe, located on Jl. KH. Mas
Mansur in front of Batavia Tower, Central Jakarta, at lunch or
dinner time, be prepared to be patient and wait for about one
hour before receiving your order. Also, be prepared to wait if
you would like a seat, as this tiny food stall only has two long
benches with room for 15 visitors.

Among their customers are young professionals working along
Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. Satrio, and some local artists.

The menu itself has a nuance of "struggle" - a struggle
against hotel management.

Check out the cafe's main menu: Nasi Goreng Stop PHK (Stop
Dismissal Fried Rice) which costs Rp 4,500 (less than U.S. 50
cents) per portion, or Kwetiauw Buruh (Workers' Noodles) at Rp
6,500 per dish.

You could also taste Siomay Perjuangan (Dim Sum of Struggle)
for Rp 3,500, or Solid Bihun (Solid Rice Noodles) for Rp 4,500.

Beverages include: Es teller SPMS (Shangri-La Independent
Worker Union Mixed Fruit Juice), FSPM (Indonesian Hotel
Independent Workers Union Federation) Avocado Juice, IUF
(International Union of Food, Hotels and Restaurants) Tomato
Juice, or LBH (Jakarta Legal Aid Institute) Lemon Tea.

All the names depict "the struggle" of about 500 Shangri-La
Hotel workers, who are members of SPMS, fighting to be reemployed
by the hotel's management after striking for almost three months.

The workers also name their products after the organizations
which have so far supported their strike.

Entering the two meter by five meter tent cafe, customers can
also view pictures of the struggle, including their
demonstrations in front of the hotel and a hearing in the House
of Representatives (DPR).

The cafe's head, Jojo Suharto, said that the operation's
profits were used to finance the workers' activities.

"Establishment of the cafe also aims to attract public
attention to our struggle," Jojo, who has been working at the
hotel for almost five years with his last position being chef de
partie, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

The father of two sons said more than Rp 520,000 of the cafe's
profit was spent on financing their rally in front of the hotel
on March 17, the hotel's first day of operation since being
closed on Dec. 22 last year.

Several workers suffered injuries when dozens of police beat
them in an attempt to disperse the rally.

Jojo said the cafe is open around the clock with four cooks,
four waiters and four stewards. The cooks are paid Rp 20,000 a
day, waiters Rp 10,000 a day and the stewards, whose main job is
washing the dishes, Rp 7,000.

The 50-year-old Jojo claimed that the cafe, which was
established last month, earned an average daily profit of between
Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million after food and beverage expenses.

He said that they have to pay a "security fee" of up to Rp
200,000 a month to the so-called Karet Tengsin Family
Association, who "allow" them to run the business on the site.

The workers spent Rp 1.5 million to build the first cafe --
mostly for the wooden benches, tables, and tarpaulin roof.

In the near future, the workers will expand their business by
opening a new outlet, also located on Jl. KH. Mas Mansur, near
the Kempinski Hotel.

The expansion aims to give jobs to other members of SPMS, who
have been "black-listed" by restaurants and hotels in Jakarta.

"Our names have been spread to hotels and restaurants here.
Some of our friends looking for work were rejected after being
identified as striking Shangri-La workers," Jojo said.

The workers will stop their demonstrations against the hotel
if their cafes could give them jobs in the future, Jojo said. For
the time being though, they will continue with their rallies.

"We will not stop until our demands are fulfilled," he
remarked.

The workers have earlier demanded that the hotel provide equal
distribution of service charges and the pension fund.

Their case is now being examined by the Ministry of Manpower
and Transmigration's worker's dispute settlement division.