Garuda Faces Strike Threat As Unions and Bosses Clash

Irvan Tisnabudi Jakarta Globe

In this file photo, a PT Garuda Indonesia airplane takes off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Indonesia. Union leaders and management at Garuda Indonesia are at loggerheads over recent labor negotiations. (Bloomberg Photo/Dimas Ardian)


Indonesia. Union leaders and management at PT Garuda Indonesia are at loggerheads over recent labor negotiations, with unions saying their bosses have reneged on an agreement and management claiming no deal has been reached.

Union leaders said they would petition President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday to intervene, adding that a strike was not out of the question.

Tomy Tampatty, spokesman for union Serikat Pekerja Garuda (Sekarga), said negotiations in February had resulted in an agreement for an across-the-board 50 percent pay rise for all workers, as well as lowering the retirement age for pilots from 60 to 56.

“The joint agreement resulted in those two decisions, but management still won’t admit to those two terms,” Tomy told the Jakarta Globe.

However, Garuda corporate secretary Pudjobroto told the Globe that the negotiations were ongoing and no agreement had been reached.

“The so-called joint ‘agreement’ is still being discussed with the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, so it hasn’t become a formal agreement yet,” he said. “Those terms are merely demands from the workers union at this point.

“The ministry will help sort out the demands of the employees and decide which demands will be agreed upon.”

Pudjobroto said that for the past three years Garuda had adjusted salaries in line with workers’ performance and this had helped the airline’s transformation from money-loser to profit-maker.

Previously, they had periodically increased all workers’ salaries regardless of performance.

Pudjobroto also claimed that Garuda pilots had agreed to maintain the retirement age of 60, even though national law mandates retirement for all employees at 56.

However, Stephanus Gerardus, president of the Garuda Pilots’ Association (APG), told the Globe that the pilots did, in fact, request the retirement age be lowered to 56, and that management had agreed.

(Most of Garuda’s 600 pilots are members of Sekarga and APG.)

In a battle of wills that is likely to drag on, both sides have dismissed the other’s claims.

Pudjobroto has even questioned whether APG has the support of the majority of its 5,200 members.

“The demands of the workers’ union do not reflect the demands of all Garuda employees,” Pudjobroto said.

Sekarga president Salim Abubakar countered that the demands of the union did, in fact, reflect the preferences of Garuda employees, while offering some dramatic leveraging of his own.

“A strike will be conducted as soon as possible, most likely within this year, if Garuda’s management does not commit to our joint agreement with them,” Salim said.

Tomy further attested to Sekarga’s resolve, announcing that the union would send a letter to Yudhoyono on Thursday regarding their demands.

But when asked about the possibility of a strike, Tomy was less threatening, saying that it would be the last option if negotiations failed. Still, he wouldn’t completely rule out resorting to a work stoppage.

“We’ll see how the president reacts to our letter,” the union leader said.