Tanjung Priok Port strike ends, situation returns to normal

JAKARTA (JP): Activities at the Tanjung Priok harbor in North Jakarta have returned to normal since Saturday after an agreement was reached between the management of the terminal and workers.

The workers of the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), who went on a one-day strike Friday, were demanding that the management cancel the planned transfer of nine of their colleagues, who were union activists.

"With the agreement, we've continued our work," said union secretary Irma S. Chan, among the nine unionists to be transferred to Panjang port in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra.

The first strike protested, among other things, next year's planned cutback of workers on the grounds of efficiency, which would affect 20 percent of the 1,200 temporary workers. The temporary workers are employed by state port operator Pelindo II but were assigned to JICT until March 27, 2001.

The planned reduction, Irma said, was the main reason for the protest. The majority stakeholder is Hong Kong business group Hutchison Whampoa, which through its company Grossbeak, owns 51 percent of JICT, while Pelindo II has 49 percent.

"The status of our employment is not clear, while the management could still transfer any worker who protests them," said Irma.

"Based on the contract with Pelindo II and JICT, the management can't transfer any of the temporary workers who have been hired until March 27, 2001," Irma said.

Irma said Pelindo II, the state port operator with shares in JICT, had agreed to cancel the transfer of its nine temporary workers.

However Pelindo II refused to comment, including on whether the decision to reduce 20 percent of temporary workers remains in effect.

Through the planned transfer of the nine union executives, Irma said, "the management is trying to crush the union."

In the Friday strike, which led to a build up of thousands of unloaded containers, the workers also demanded higher wages and an end to the "discriminatory" treatment of workers by expatriates, for instance in regards to work loads.

Pelindo II's chief commissioner, Aries Cashiered, only said "We are still considering this problem."

JICT did not confirm its losses during the one-day strike but Irma said the company earned some US$8 million a day.

The cancellation of the transfer of the nine workers, Irma said, was partly due to pressure from Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Agum Gumelar, who had made promises to the union that workers would not be transferred.

Irma charged that empty promises were made on the part of the management, regarding such issues as training for workers and new equipment. (07)