
Issue No 89		23 March 2001

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International

Violence Betrays Shangri-La

By Andrew Casey

Shangri-La hotel union members carrying a coffin marked Robert Kuok have been assaulted and beaten by police in Jakarta.

The incident occurred last Saturday ( March 17), the day the hotel re-opened with the use of scab labour. Kuok is the name of the Malaysian-born owner of the Shangri-La hotel and resort chain which has been at war with its workforce since before Christmas.

One pregnant Hotel worker, Rita Sunanti, who works at one of the Shangri-la hotel's restaurants was assaulted by police and has miscarried in hospital as a result of the beating.

A number of hotel stewards and housekeeping staff had to have stitches following wild police beatings around their head and neck area.

Many other union members were bruised and battered in a melee started by a combined force of riot police, tourist police, an elite mobile police force on motor bikes, and undercover police operatives.

Lawyers, from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said in a statement after the rally that police failed to remain neutral in the labor dispute between the hotel management and workers.

Lawyers demanded that police officers who took part in dispersing rally be dismissed for their "brutal actions in response to a peaceful rally".

Victims go to hospital

At least 15 protesters were injured when police officers moved in to disperse the demonstrators, who were protesting the hotel's reopening after a three-month closure.

The injuries were such that all the victims of the police assault had to go to the nearby Sint Carolus Hospital to have their wounds attended to by nurses and doctors.

The Shangri-La Jakarta hotel has been closed since Dec 22 last year, when about 1000 workers were locked out of their jobs by a management unwilling to negotiate with the independent hotel union.

Last Saturday the hotel union members carried a number of mock coffins with Robert Kuok's name emblazoned on the side and the name of one of his Indonesian partners, Osbert Lyman.

" We did it to symbolise the death of humanity, the death of ordinary human feelings shown by these managers and owners to their workforce," a member of the Shangri-La independent hotel union SPMS explained.

450 in protest march

There were about 450 hotel union members involved in the protest march outside the Shangri-La hotel.

Earlier in the day about 50 members of the elite mobile police corps had surrounded the hotel to protect it from demonstrators. Throughout the day they were backed up by more than 200 other police units, as well as the hotel owners security guards.

Before the melee caused by the police attack on several hundred union members the hotel workers had marched peacefully to the central city site where the Shangri-La hotel is based, shouting slogans such as "We are ready to work right now".

About 150 meters from the front yard of the hotel the police blocked the march and the workers stopped to sing union songs, shout slogans and hear speeches condemning the activities of the hotel management.

The commander of the police promised to try to get the management to talk with a delegation but after an hour nothing seemed to happen.

Police tried to block off the demonstrators with their heavy presence, but when the workers decided to take an alternative route the police got visibly angry and demanded the workers immediately disperse arguing they were blocking a major road.

The coffins

The coffin with Robert Kuok's and Osbert Lyman's names on them were brought to the front of the marchers who started to move forward .

Three lines of riot police were brought in to confront the workers - backed up by the elite mobile police, the tourist police and the undercover operatives.

At that point the riot police started the pushing and shoving and kicking with shield and sticks.

After about half an hour of this melee the workers had been pushed back, and the police commander announced that the management had agreed to meet a union delegation.

But when the five person union delegation arrived at the entrance of the hotel they were informed - as they have been told several times before - there would be no negotiations with the union.

The company was relying on what they said were the Indonesian legal processes to bring an end to the dispute.

Send protest e-mails now

Send a protest message today to the Indonesian Government's Minister of Manpower Al Hilal Hamdi .

E-mail him at: mailto:[email protected]

Send a protest message today to the Chief Executive and Managing Director of Shangri-La Hotels and Resosrts Mr. Giovanni Angelini.E-mail him at: mailto:[email protected]

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  Issue 89 contents

Interview: Paddy Takes the Helm
Irish, internationalist, republican, socialist & seafarer - Paddy Crumlin intends taking the old traditions of the labour left into the 21st century, the community and cyberspace.

Unions: Breaking the Mould
Mark Hearn looks at how women union delegates are helping to change the culture in the traditionally male bastion of glassworking.

Legal: Washing Their Hands
Mark Morey outlines how Liberal neglect of the working visa system has led to exploitation of guest workers.

International: Violence Betrays Shangri-La
Shangri-La hotel union members carrying a coffin marked Robert Kuok have been assaulted and beaten by police in Jakarta.

Economics: Corporations: Different Than You and Me
Corporations are fundamentally different than you and me. That's a simple truth that Big Business leaders desperately hope the public will not perceive.

History: The Steel Octopus
Be prepared for a flood of Nostalgia from the media about the �Big Australian�, as it prepares to flee our shores and finally internationalise its digging operations. Workers won�t forget BHP�s less than worker friendly past and present (and no doubt it�s future).

Review: Mean Nation
John Allen charts the fall and fall of philanthropy in Australian society.

Satire: Ryan 'A Big Wake-Up Call For Me': Beazley
The narrow victory to Labor in the Ryan by-election has delivered a big slap in the face to Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley.

» Abbott and �Drinking Buddy� Under Microscope

» Working Visas: Ruddock Sells Dump to Abbott

» Tourist Guides Bussed In

» Fair Wear Holds Breath as Carr Celebrates

» Labor to Restore Public Sector�s Dignity

» Its Time for Carr to Act on Safey on Building Sites

» Bread Maker Slices Workforce

» Workers Show Grace Under Pressure

» Engineers Win BHP Redundancy Case

» Transport Drug Pushers Not Charged

» Training Body Needs $150 Million to Cope with Growth

» HIH Urged To Safeguard Employee Entitlements

» Carr Proposal For Public Schools Flawed

» Human Smirk Returns to Spiritual Home

» McGauchie Appointment Draws MUA Fire

» Bove Loses McDonald's Raid Appeal

» James Hardie Called to Account

» Australasian Union Organising Conference

» Activist Notebook