Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Employees of Bandung-based state aircraft company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) urged to the government Wednesday to intervene in the firm's bankruptcy case to help prevent the disposal of the company's assets.
The intervention call has been made to block a court-appointed liquidator from coming to the company, the initial step to executing the bankruptcy verdict issued by the commercial court on Tuesday, Edy Kombara, secretary general of the PTDI employees association, said in Bandung.
Edy said it was feared the court's execution would stop all production at the aircraft manufacturing company, causing Indonesia to lose face and trust among local and international customers. He said many long-term working contracts had already been signed with international aircraft companies such as Boeing and Airbus.
"Frankly speaking we (employees) are feeling a kind of mental breakdown. This is very disturbing. What will the national and international impact be if the company really is declared bankrupt?" Edy asked.
The commercial court's decision Tuesday was the culmination of legal action by some 6,500 former employees of the company. The former employees, who were dismissed in PTDI's massive restructuring program in 2003, took the case to court in the hope of extracting retirement funds from the company.
Edy said his association had a membership of about 1,900 of 3,200 personnel still employed by the company. Over the last two years, the company, which was set up in 1976, employed an additional 600 contract workers due to rising orders.
Edy said eight members of his association's management board would leave for Jakarta on Thursday to meet members of the House of Representatives to ask for their support in amicably settling the case with the former employees.
State Minister of State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said Tuesday that upon hearing about the bankruptcy verdict, he appealed directly to the Supreme Court in the hope of extracting a better verdict in light of the company's recent increased growth.
Sofyan said he will seek to have the commercial court's decision overturned on the grounds that the case was initiated by the former employees' union. Referring to a law on state enterprises, Sofyan said state assets could not confiscated without approval from ministers and House members.
Edy explained that PTDI was currently under contract until 2010 to produce components for Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. He said that the company was also involved in the manufacture of Boeing 777 wing components, CN 295 aircraft components ordered by Cassa of Spain and the manufacture of CN 235 aircraft ordered by the Indonesian Air Force.
The company also still provides routine servicing for Boeing 737-200 and 737-300 aircraft operated by local airlines such as Batavia, Kartika, Mandala and Jatayu, he added.