Union needed to improve welfare
Union needed to improve welfare
JAKARTA (JP): A journalists' association and a union of
newspaper publishers said on Tuesday it was important for
journalists to set up unions in their respective offices to
strengthen their bargaining position with their publishing
companies.
"AJI itself has been declared a workers' union. In the past we
fought against the government, nowadays we face the publishing
companies," the union coordinator of the Alliance of Independent
Journalists (AJI), P. Bambang Wisudo, said while addressing a
seminar on Credibility, Institution, Professionalism and Press
Workers' Welfare here.
Wisudo said AJI currently is campaigning for the establishment
of press workers' unions, but has been receiving resistance from
publishing companies and journalists.
"Journalists prefer to be called professionals, although they
are paid monthly salaries and treated similar to workers,"
Wisudo, who is also a journalist at Kompas daily, said.
He said unions were needed since many publishing companies and
journalists did not show enough concern about such things as
journalists' salaries, transportation allowances and insurance.
He said publishing companies could not stop the establishment
of the unions, saying if they attempted this they could face a
maximum sentence of five years in jail or a fine of between Rp
100 million and Rp 500 million, according to Law No. 21/1999 on
unions.
"Many workers' unions, outside the press, are ready to enter
the press industry," Wisudo said.
He said at least 14 workers' unions have been established in
Jakarta, including Dewan Karyawan (Workers Council) and
Perkumpulan Karyawan (Workers Association).
He said so far only the union of the Central Java-based Solo
Pos daily had registered at the Ministry of Manpower, a move
necessary to give legal certainty to the workers.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Newspaper Publishers Union
(SPS), Leo Batubara, agreed with Wisudo about the establishment
of unions, but suggested these unions be established at
profitable publishing companies.
"We demand the establishment of workers' unions and an
improvement in the welfare of journalists, including their
salaries, at those already profitable companies," Leo said.
He said only 15 percent of the current 1,687 print media were
profitable and professional.
"Unless the profitable print media pay their journalists well,
the journalists will move to dot.coms or television stations,
which offer higher salaries," he said.
However, the chief editor of The Jakarta Post, Susanto
Pudjomartono, said a workers' union was not really the right
answer to improving the welfare of journalists.
"The problem is how to reduce the journalists' anxiety about
their jobs, insurance, career development and their futures,"
Susanto said during the seminar.
He said giving journalists shares in their companies,
providing regular training and ensuring transparency in
management would help prevent journalists from leaving the print
media.
"If the journalists work only for larger salaries, there will
be no pride because they are only a small part of their
companies' systems," he said. (jun)