Union busting
PT Tainan Enterprises Indonesia consistently refused to reinstate union leaders fired in 2021 for forming a local union.
When the Garment and Textile Trade Union Federation (Garteks) formed a factory-level branch at the company’s factory in North Jakarta in August 2021, the union president Ahmad Faisal, vice-president Tulam, and vice secretary Hendra Radista were dismissed on the pretext of refusing to transfer to a different factory. The Indonesian Ministry of Manpower recommended on 24 December 2021 that the three Garteks union leaders should be reinstated. The recommendation was ignored however, and in February 2022 Ahmad Faisal, Tulam and Hendra Radista signed a settlement agreement with the company, accepting severance pay on the condition that the company stop union busting.
However, management ignored that agreement and continued to persecute union members. After the dismissal of the founding leaders, Rahmawati became local union president at PT Tainan in August 2021. In January 2022, the company started issuing warning letters to Rahmawati, claiming she was unable to achieve the production target. After three warning letters, Rahmawati was dismissed on 18 May. Garteks criticised the garment company for union busting and filed a complaint with the North Jakarta labour office.
In August 2022, the industrial relations mediator ruled that the company should reinstate Rahmawati in her original position with back pay.
Following interventions from IndustriALL, the company signed a settlement agreement with Garteks whereby Rahmawati was to be reinstated to her original position on 1 November 2022.