S

ome 100 workers from various labor unions in Semarang, Central Java, converged at the Semarang Manpower and Transmigration Office on Thursday and demanded it investigate the dissolution of a labor union by PT Audio Sumitomo Techno Indonesia (PT ASTI).

PT ASTI disbanded the labor union by dismissing six of its organizers in 2008 whom it deemed had acted in contradiction to the company’s policies. Earlier this year, the company also dismissed 175 union members who staged a strike on July 9 and 10 to demand protection of workers’ rights.

Protesters gathered on Thursday said PT ASTI had implemented discriminative policies against workers who were advocating for labor rights — a practice commonly referred to as union busting.

“The dismissal of six labor organizers was rooted in the fact they had fought for the rights of workers, such as demanding the company abolish its outsourcing employment system,” said Central Java Workers Struggle Movement activist Prabowo in Semarang on Thursday.

Union lawyer Denny Septiviant said union busting was against Law No. 21/2000 on labor unions, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of Rp 50 million (US$5,500) for anyone found guilty. “We don’t want union busting to become a trend among employers,” he said.

Nani Indrawati of the Semarang Manpower and Transmigration Office said her office was handling the dismissal of the six PT ASTI employees in 2008 and promised to investigate the dismissal of 175 PT ASTI workers in July this year.

PT ASTI human resource manager Bambang Sudarsono denied that the company had disbanded the labor union. He said the company management had never disallowed workers to organize.

According to Bambang, PT ASTI has acted in accordance with existing procedures concerning the
dismissals.

“It’s not true that we have disbanded the union. As of now, PT ASTI is home to two labor unions, PT ASTI Workers’ Union and
the Indonesian Metal Workers Union’s Electronic-Electrical Workers’ Union,” he said.

Regarding the dismissal of the six union organizers, he said they were dismissed because they had falsified the number of members in the two unions. “Initially, we offered them [the opportunity] to resign honorably by giving them a severance package of Rp 30 million each, but they refused, despite the fact that they had committed a serious offense,” he said.