Tanjung Priok Port strike ends, situation returns to normal

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)