Bekasi, West Java. Two senior legislators, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad and Saan Mustopa, conducted an unannounced inspection on Monday at the Multistrada Arah Sarana tire factory, which produces Michelin tires, following reports of a planned mass layoff that unions say violates a collective labor agreement.

Dasco, who chairs the House of Representatives (DPR) Taskforce on Worker Protection, said the visit aimed to bridge communication between management and the plant’s labor union.

“We received reports from our friends in the Multistrada union about a planned unilateral layoff by the company. That’s why we came to communicate,” Dasco said after a closed-door meeting at the site.

He urged management that any layoffs -- if unavoidable -- must comply with the mutual bargaining agreement (PKB) and Indonesian labor regulations, stressing that all negotiation stages must be completed before decisions are made. To defuse tensions, Dasco set a Friday deadline for the company to address the dispute and asked that all employees continue working as usual in the meantime.

“They must work as usual. For those suspended, we ask that they be reinstated first,” he said, adding that Multistrada had promised to report the meeting’s outcome to its parent company.

Union Challenge and Tariff Pressures
Roughly 370 employees -- about 200 in production and 170 in logistics -- have been told they are being laid off, according to Guntoro, head of the Multistrada union, who said the company cited efficiency and restructuring, including plans to outsource parts of logistics by April 2026.

Guntoro argued the move breaches the PKB, saying dismissals should be by mutual agreement or voluntary schemes, not unilaterally.

“This isn’t the first layoff, but previously it was open and voluntary. Now it feels targeted, with union members also affected. This points to union busting,” he said last week.

The union plans legal action and formal protests.

“We will report this case to the Bekasi Manpower Office and the Manpower Ministry, and coordinate with the local DPRD and the Bekasi regency government. If there’s no solution, we’re prepared for mass demonstrations,” Guntoro said.

Fuad Hasan, head of industrial relations at the Bekasi Manpower Office (Disnaker), said the company attributes the move to global economic pressures, notably US trade tariffs under President Donald Trump that have hurt export markets.

“The company says the layoffs were made because its export market was affected by tariff policy. But we remind them that any layoffs must follow the stages set out in the PKB,” he said.

Fuad said 240 workers have received layoff notices so far, but the process remains under bipartite negotiation between management and the union, with another meeting expected next week. He warned that continued economic headwinds could trigger layoffs in other industrial sectors.

“So far only Multistrada has reported mass layoffs. But if pressures persist, similar cases may arise elsewhere,” he said.

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