Jakarta, 13 June 2006 - After the Indonesia Supreme Court ruled that over 200 illegally sacked Securicor Indonesia workers should be reinstated and given back pay, those workers reported for work - and have refused to leave.
More than 150 workers have nonviolently occupied the Securicor Indonesia office at the Kawasan Komersial Cilandak (Jl. Raya Cilandak KKO) since the morning of Monday, 12 June. These men and women are demanding that Securicor Indonesia comply with the Supreme Court decision.
“Securicor Indonesia has run out of excuses. The Supreme Court has spoken, and now it’s time for Securicor to do the right thing,” said Dedy Toisutta, President of the Securicor Indonesia Labor Union, an affiliate of ASPEK Indonesia (Association of Indonesian Labor Unions).
“The highest court in the land has affirmed that these workers must be reinstated and paid the wages they are owed,” added the workers’ attorney, Ecoline Situmorang of PBHI (Perhimpunan Bantuan Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia Indonesia). “We hope that the company will move immediately to comply with the ruling. If they do not, we will pursue further legal action.”
The Indonesian Supreme Court decision was released on 8 June 2006, affirming the 12 January 2006 PTTUN (High Court on State Administrative Affairs) and 29 June 2005 P4P (labor tribunal) decisions supporting the workers’ position.
On April 25, 2005, about 500 security guards engaged in a legal strike to demand clarity from the company over whether they would remain permanent employees with the same rights following an international merger between Group 4 Falck and Securicor. Rather than pay severance or guarantee the workers that their terms of employment would remain the same, the company fired 238 striking workers in the capital Jakarta and a further 24 in Surabaya.
The Securicor Indonesia workers have received international support throughout its campaign. Their case was just cited in a new report, the International Confederation of Free Trade Union’s Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights 2006, which noted that, the company has engaged in a “campaign of harassment by proxies,” including arranging for Toisutta to be tried for a “trumped up charge” of “unpleasant acts.” The company’s labor rights violations have also been cited in the U.S. State Department’s 2005 Human Rights Report.
Focus on Group 4 Securicor is an international coalition of trade unions and NGOs that are campaigning for higher standards across the security industry. More information is available at www.focusongroup4securicor.com.
For further information:
UK: Emma Cerrone - +44(20) 7395 8928
USA: Jessica Champagne - +1-202-256-8549/champagj seiu.org (bisa bahasa Indonesia)
Indonesia: Dedy Toisutta - +62-815-815-8778