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E. Kalimantan airport workers threaten strikes
Some 250 workers at the International Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, have threatened to go on strike from May 7 to 9 to protest poor labor conditions, a move that is likely to paralyze flights to and from the province
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Some 250 workers at the International Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, have threatened to go on strike from May 7 to 9 to protest poor labor conditions, a move that is likely to paralyze flights to and from the province.
Similar actions may also be taken by workers at airports in Manado, Banjarmasin, Biak, Ambon and other cities in the country's eastern region.
Chairman of the Angkasa Pura Worker Union (SPAP I) Arif Islam said the strike was the last resort following deadlocked negotiations with management over poor labor conditions in the state-owned company.
"Some 250 of the 283 workers at Sepinggan airport are members of the labor union and all have agreed to launch three strikes to test the water. If the management gives no positive response, the strike will be extended to more days and in other provinces," he told The Jakarta Post.
The workers' union has become frustrated with management refusal to raise salaries, provide social security insurance (Jamsostek) and halt outsourcing and contract-based recruitment.
Previously, the labor union staged four rallies in Jakarta in May, July and September of 2007 and March 2008, with management pledging to accommodate its demands in revising the 2005-2007 collective labor agreement.
Arif said the comapny's management was hiding behind a decision in a shareholder meeting which declined to raise wages by 30 percent for the next two years.
"The workers and management have been deadlocked on crucial issues such as wage hikes and social security programs. We have had no regulations since the collective labor agreement expired on April 21, 2008," he said.
The strike will involve the briefing office, the flight information service, air traffic control, fire officers and radio and security guards.
"Only on-duty air traffic control staff will go to work in compliance with the air transportation law. Security at the airport will not be able to be maintained because all workers in charge of security will stay out of their workplace," he said.
The airport services 7,000 passengers and 120 flights everyday. The planned strike has been also advertised to all airline companies and the public in the province.
Meanwhile, state-owned PT Angkasa Pura I's personnel manager Imam Pramono dismissed the planned labor strike as unlawful, saying workers should go back to the negotiating table to seek a win-win solution.
"Workers cannot go on strike since negotiations are still deadlocked and have not failed. The management is open to further negotiations to create harmonious industrial relations and avoid labor disputes," he said.
He warned that the company would use other laws aside from the 2003 labor law to take strict action against workers disrupting the national air transportation service.
Similar strikes are likely to be held at other airports, including Frans Kaisiepo Airport in Biak, Papua; Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi; Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta and Pattimura Airport in Ambon, Maluku.
The labor union of state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I for Yogyakarta's Adisutjipto Airport has also expressed support for central leadership to stage a simultaneous strike at a number of airports in the country from May 7 to 9.
"We are ready to support the struggle of our colleagues in front of the central executive board because it also serves our interests," Bambang Subarwoko, a member of the labor union at Adisutipto Airport, said as quoted by Antara on Saturday.
He said almost 80 percent of the employees of PT Angkasa Pura I's branch at Adisutjipto Airport were members of the labor union and they had expressed support for the simultaneous strike.
"But we will not all be on strike. Some of our colleagues will continue to work. Only a few workers will not work on those days," he said.
The strike was meant to put pressure on PT Angkasa Pura I's management to pay more attention to its workers' welfare and to meet its obligations set forth in the collective labor agreement (PKB) signed by the company and employees, he said.
"The company has still not implemented a number of terms and conditions agreed upon in the PKB, including those related to basic salaries, old age allowances and pensions," he said.
