T

housands employees of retail giant Carrefour, represented by the Congress Alliance of Indonesian Labor Unions (KASBI), say they will go on strike from Aug. 26 to 28, four days before Idul Fitri.

Carrefour employees throughout Greater Jakarta will stage a rally at the company’s head office in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.

The thread has been triggered by the dismissal of an employee, Pakpin Sinaga, who was also a member of the Carrefour Indonesia Workers’ Union (SPCI), SPCI chief Imam Setiawan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Imam said the incident began when Pakpin, working in the bazaar division, bought a soft drink with a gift coupon at his workplace in East Jakarta and won first prize, a high-tech water purification device.

“The company interrogated Pakpin, accusing him of cheating by finding out which product contained the first prize.”

Feeling wronged, Pakpin asked KASBI for an advocate, Imam said.

“However, the company fired him without explanation,” he added.

“The company sent the dismissal letter via Tiki [a courier company]. They did not give the letter to him directly through a company official. All Pakpin knew was that he was not allowed to go to work, and when he asked the reason, the company official did not give any answers.”

Imam added that other employees wore black bands on their left arms, but they were threatened and suspended by Carrefour.

“Therefore, a strike is the best possible way we, as employees, can fight for our rights. Besides, it is legal, based on the Manpower Law.”

Imam said the union gave Carrefour until Aug. 25 to rescind the dismissal and suspensions.

He added that letters announcing the strike had been sent to relevant authorities such as the National Police Headquarters, the Jakarta Police, Carrefour head office, Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the French ambassador.

Carrefour Indonesia Public Affairs Manager Satria Hamid Ahmadi told the Post that the company was discussing the matter internally.

“We have met [the employees] and talked about the problem. Everything is OK,” he said.

“They should realize that having a strike and demonstration will not solve the problems. Why don’t we sit and talk?”

Carrefour human resources development executive Pamrihadi downplayed the threat, saying there were only about 800 workers grouped under the SPCI, while the retail giant had about 11,000 employees in its workforce.

“It is OK to stage the rally as long its purely the workers without outside parties intervening,” he told the Post over the phone. “We never fire any employee arbitrarily. Any dismissal has come through a series of processes as regulated by the government.” (aaa)