Worker sues arbitration body
JAKARTA (JP): A former manager of PT Coca-Cola Indonesia asked the Jakarta High Court on Thursday to annul a decision by the Ministry of Manpower's labor arbitration board rejecting his severance pay demand.
Suryadi Wijono, who worked for Coca-Cola Indonesia from 1980 to 1996, demanded the company give him severance pay equal to 2.5 times his salary. This is the same amount 20 other former employees received.
"I should have received about Rp 400 million (US$59,701), but the company only offered me half of this because I took an early pension," Wijono said.
He said that in April 1996, the firm offered employees who had worked at the company for 15 years the opportunity to resign with 2.5 times their salary in severance payment, which most of the employees called the April Package.
Wijono, who was the firm's regional technical manager at the time, accepted the company's offer, but he was asked to continue working at the company because his skills were needed.
Then managing director John Brady asked Wijono to join a four- month training course in Atlanta, the United States, and Istanbul, Turkey.
Upon returning from the course, Wijono discovered Brady had been replaced by John Murphy and that his position as technical manager had been filled by Guy Wollaert.
Wijono was assigned to manage a factory in Cilangkap, West Java, a move which was seen as a demotion. When Wijono turned down the position, Murphy offered to assign him to a position he was not familiar with.
Wijono instead resigned, asking for the severance pay stipulated in the April Package. This was rejected by the company.
The dispute was then brought to the regional arbitration board of the Jakarta office of the manpower ministry, which ruled the company must give Wijono severance pay equal to 2.5 times his salary.
Coca-Cola Indonesia appealed the decision to the ministry's labor arbitration board, which ruled in favor of the company.
Coca-Cola Indonesia spokeswoman Titi Sadarini could not be reached for comment.(jun)