As a result of Management's persistent actions to maintain the protracted lock-out of workers and deny them their capacity to earn a living, the IUF took the view that it could not stand by while the members and families of its affiliate were starved into submission, simply because the Shangri-La workers sought to be represented by a union of their choice, a right guaranteed under Indonesian law.

The IUF questions the assertion that the Shangri-La Management is still negotiating with the remaining locked-out workers.  There is no genuine negotiation taking place. The union is totally ignored by the Shangri-La Management, whose actions on industrial relations issues are led by the Lyman group, a major shareholder of the hotel. 

Instead, workers are being approached, one by one or in small groups, to accept offers of compensation to give up the struggle for their jobs and their rights. By their actions, Management has proved that their continuing objective is union busting. The real issues that gave rise to the dispute in the first place are totally suppressed, with Management still evading genuine good faith negotiation with the union.

The IUF affirms that in the present situation where a substantial number of Shangri-La workers continue their struggle for justice and against unfair dismissal, it remains in support of the SPMS. Although the SPMS union has had a change of leadership recently, its current membership is committed to securing justice.

The IUF, currently composed of 334 unions in 120 countries, was founded in 1920 to protect members and workers who are oppressed.  IUF affiliates have observed Management�s relentless oppression of Shangri-La workers in disgust and indignation and have expressed this to Indonesian missions throughout the world (in Bangkok, Stockholm, the Hague, Washington DC, Toronto, Brussels, Los Angeles and Geneva), via protests outside other Shangri-La hotels, and through a fund-raising campaign to provide the Shangri-La workers with money to feed themselves and their families.

We understand the pressure that Halilintar Nurdin, the former union president must be under. However, we feel saddened by the statements he made, considering that it was his dismissal in December last year that caused Shangri-La workers to protest and rally spontaneously to his defense. They trusted him and gave him unstinting support even to the extent of being dismissed themselves.

Therefore, the IUF reiterates the following:

• The Shangri-La dispute had its origins late last year in Management intransigence to negotiate in good faith over the proper distribution of the service charge and the implementation of a pension plan;
• It is unfortunate that Shangri-La Jakarta Management chose to pursue a strategy of union-busting and lock-out rather than negotiate amicably with the union; 
• The IUF continues to pursue the Shangri-La case at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations' body that sets and upholds international standards of labour rights; 
• The decisions of the P4P and P4D (the labour-dispute settlement bodies), which acceded to Management's requests for the dismissal of the Shangri-La workers, will be appealed by the SPMS at the Administrative Court.

The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international trade union federation composed of 334 trade unions in 120 countries with an affiliated membership of 2.5 million members. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.  The IUF Asia & Pacific Regional Organisation is based in Sydney, Australia.