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Kadin chair Rosan urged to meet obligations to former employees
Labor dispute: Bloomberg TV Indonesia, the local franchise of Bloomberg TV, ceased operations in September after running into financial difficulty
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Labor dispute: Bloomberg TV Indonesia, the local franchise of Bloomberg TV, ceased operations in September after running into financial difficulty. The joint venture set up in 2012 by Bloomberg and Idea Groupâcontrolled by Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan P. Roeslani--is defunct, leaving hundreds of former employees, mostly journalists, fighting for compensation. (thejakartapost.com) (Kadin) chairman Rosan P. Roeslani--is defunct, leaving hundreds of former employees, mostly journalists, fighting for compensation. (thejakartapost.com)
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span class="caption">Labor dispute: Bloomberg TV Indonesia, the local franchise of Bloomberg TV, ceased operations in September after running into financial difficulty. The joint venture set up in 2012 by Bloomberg and Idea Group'controlled by Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan P. Roeslani--is defunct, leaving hundreds of former employees, mostly journalists, fighting for compensation. (thejakartapost.com)
The Legal Aid Center for the Press (LBH Pers) has issued a second warning letter to PT Idea Karya Indonesia--the holding company of the defunct station Bloomberg TV Indonesia -- to pay its obligations to its ex-workers. Idea Karya Indonesia is owned by Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) boss Rosan Roeslani.
LBH Pers executive director Nawawi Bahrudin said that Rosan had again failed to fulfil his obligations to journalists previously employed by Bloomberg TV Indonesia.
'We have still not received any response from Bloomberg TV Indonesia. We will follow up this matter at the beginning of January,' Nawawi told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday in Jakarta.
On Dec. 4, LBH Pers, acting on behalf of former employees of Bloomberg TV Indonesia, issued the first warning letter to that station, which officially closed because of financial concerns in September.
In the letter, Bloomberg TV Indonesia was urged to pay compensation to its former employees based on a collective agreement signed by employees and management in July.
In the agreement, Idea Karya agreed to pay compensation by regular instalments at the end of each month. However, the management failed to fulfil the agreement.
'The main obstacle is the declining economy, which has tightened our budget. We also had other obligations to other parties that could not be set aside. However, we still uphold our commitment and will carry out the maximum efforts [to pay our obligations],' said Bloomberg TV Indonesia CEO Aditya Chandra Wardhana on Monday.
He claimed that the shareholders of Idea Karya, among them Rosan, were also fully committed to settling this matter. 'In spite of all limitations, we will fulfil our obligations to the greatest extent possible, especially our obligations to employees,' said Aditya.
Negligence
Arif Budiman, a representative of former Bloomberg TV Indonesia employers, explained that the management had neglected its obligation to pay compensation at the end of each month.
'Bloomberg TV has failed to pay the compensation on time. From July to December, some former employees weren't paid. [Management] said it had no funds, or promised to pay soon,' Arif said on Tuesday.
He added that former employees had been regularly rebuffed when proposing meeting with management
'We urge an immediate meeting with Bloomberg TV management related to the payment. Managers keep inventing excuses not to meet us,' said Arif.
The only meeting held by ex-employees and management of Bloomberg TV was in July this year and resulted in the signing of the collective agreement. Currently, Arif said, communication with management was only possible through email or Whatsapp, with messages often left unanswered.
Arif added that the ex-workers would not hesitate to take the dispute to the Industrial Relations Court if the management showed no genuine will to fulfil its obligations.
Rosan, meanwhile, has not answered any of the calls or messages from thejakartapost.com regarding this matter. (ags)(+)
