Verdict on Enteos Club dispute to be announced

Verdict on Enteos Club dispute to be announced

JAKARTA (JP): The Manpower Ministry's Committee on Workers
Disputes has given the management of PT Ilmu Inti Swadaya, which
runs the Enteos Club, and its workers their last chance to turn
up for a hearing on their dispute before the ministry announces
its verdict on May 9.

The ministry's Director for Labor Standards Sabar Sianturi
told 11 worker delegates of the club on Thursday that since the
workers had not shown up at the first hearing the week before,
and because the management also did not turn up yesterday, both
parties would have just one more chance for a hearing.

"We will read the verdict on May 9 with or without the
presence of either parties," Sianturi said.

One of the workers' lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid
Foundation, Surya Wirawan, told the committee yesterday that the
workers did not attend the hearing last week because the
committee's subpoena reached them after the hearing date.

Fifty workers from among the club's 170 employees sought the
Legal Aid Foundation's representation to obtain confirmation
about whether they have been dismissed or not. The club closed
down in November last year.

The workers said yesterday that the management should pay them
full salaries instead of stipends if they are still considered
employees, or give them severance pay if they have been
dismissed.

"So far we have only received between Rp 50,000 (US$22.5) and
Rp 100,000 each month," Rahmat Sudaryanto, one of the workers,
said.

According to the workers, the dispute started in December 1994
when the club paid them small amounts, with the promise that they
would later receive the balance of their salaries. At the same
time the club failed to pay its electricity bill to the owner of
the premises, PT Mulia Perdana Pacific.

All workers were told to turn up every day despite the lack of
electricity and telephones as a result of unpaid bills. During
that time, the employees only received stipends until last
October, even though the company had reopened with all utilities
restored.

On Nov. 1, the owner of the building once again disconnected
the electricity and telephones. The workers were again expected
to turn up for work even though the club was without facilities.

"We all have been too patient, now what we want is to know
about our working status and salaries and severance payments,"
Wati, another worker, said.

Linda J. Tani, the club's president, said in a meeting with
several representatives of the workers in January that the club
could not afford to pay the workers' salaries because it was no
longer operational.

She advised the workers to seek new jobs and offered to give
them Rp 200,000 each in severance pay, which they refused.

Lawyer Surya said yesterday that the committee would decide on
one of two existing alternatives: approve the management's
request to pronounce the club bankrupt, or advise it to meet the
workers' demands.(03)