Tourists Assured Bali Airport Worker Strike Will Not Impact Travel

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Tourists traveling in Bali have assurances from the management at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport that this week’s staff strikes will not impact travel.

Members of the union Angkasa Pura Supports (APS), the airport and aviation industry union in Indonesia, will strike for three days over job security and longevity. 

The worker’s strike will be held in the bicycle and motorcycling area of the parking zone at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.

The peaceful walkout will be held from Monday, August 19th, to Wednesday, August 20th. The majority of the staff walking out are from aviation security and customer service, though staff from all departments will be participating in the strike.

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The Chairman of the APS Independent Workers Union, Made Dodik Satriawan, said that the strike is to demand the removal of the ambiguity in the Project Permanent Employee Degree that workers and the union feel puts job security in a grey area.

The union is calling for the word ‘project’ to be removed from the decree to ensure that the commitment is permanent, not a temporary ‘project’ that could be dissolved.

Satriawan explained, “The language in the decree says project, that is very grey because the work agreement is valid until [employees] retirement, but from 2022, if you only work until 2026, then where do you go after that? That is a worry for friends.”

The union has been studying the decree for three years and feels that there are irregularities in the policy that violate the Labor Law.

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There are concerns that employees have not been given full employment rights, such as not receiving compensation for over thirteen years of service, issues around leave and work allowances, due to the impermanent nature of the policies they are expected to work within.

Many workers feel they are being afforded employment protections for temporary staff rather than permanent contracts. 

Up to 250 staff will be walking out per shift over the next three days. The General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Handy Heryudhitiawan, told reporters on Monday, 19th August, “Airport operations will continue to run normally as usual, and there are no obstacles in providing services to airport service users.”

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He continued, “The main thing is that the airport must not close and must not be disturbed. Thankfully, this morning, with the support of various parties, everything can run; operations are running normally, currently filled by employees and other staff who are not taking part in the action.”

Heryudhitiawan confirmed that the Angkasa Pura Supports team has issued a letter outlining the strategy of the strike and a commitment to be responsible in the actions they carry out as part of the walkout.

Heryudhitiawan added, “Their response was to be responsible; they will try to fulfill it.”

The ratio of non-union to union staff at Bali Airport is 1:2.

Bali Airport is on track to see it’s busiest year on record in 2024. With the island set to surpass tourism targets set by the government at the beginning of the year, leaders across the tourism sector are seeking ways to ensure that tourism services run smoothly across the island, including at Bali Airport. 

A further twenty autogates have come into operation at Bali Airpot in the last week, with an additional twenty set to be opened by the end of the month.

This will total eighty autogates for international travelers to use to help speed up both the arrival and departure immigration process.

Tourists using the eVisa on Arrival and other Indonesian e-visa categories are eligible to use the autogates, which cut the immigration check time to just a matter of seconds.

Staffed immigration counters are also open alongside the autogates, and staff are on hand to help tourists who have questions regarding the use of the new autogate system too.