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Posted by - ® Mark (Admin) on November 24, 2005 at 5:08 pm:
In Reply to: AP is suspended posted by Larry with the Twin Boyz on November 23, 2005 at 7:16 pm:
Not for the Balinese people especially, but also not for holidaymakers with cancelled flights. I thought all International airlines had to be IATA members, which I believe provides insurance for such things, but apparently not; I just checked their site and AP are not on their membership list! All those uninsured ticket holders (amazes me that people book holidays to countries like Indonesia without travel insurance - jeez, what if they fall ill??!! - But loads of people simply do not bother) are going to have to fund their losses themselves it looks like.
Also the poor everyday Balinese yet again. I see mention of hotels sending staff home, like before, and small businesses inevitably going to the wall. What amazes me about the Indonesia government's policies is they mandate a minimum wage rise each year but there is no unemployment benefit or social security. I was reading about how this fact and rising fuel / raw material costs is sending Indonesia's unemployment figures spiraling as many manufacturers and businesses simply send workers home. So Balinese hotel workers go home and get nothing, not a bean. It amazes me how the International hotel companies can do this and sleep at night, after all they are still making money as groups, surely they can look after their staff (the minimum wage in Indo is about 475,000 rupiah I think, about US$47.50 a month). If a big hotel sends home 100 staff without pay (either by sending them home period, or by putting more people on part time), they save $4,750 a month; what is that to a major hotel chain or even hotel that has made big bucks out of Bali in the past? But being sent home without any income is a huge problem of course for the poor workers. I love Bali and its everyday people, not the b'dy big hotels, etc. Hotels that can afford the knocks but send staff home should be boycotted IMHO and I will do whatever I can to make sure hotels that stand by their staff in this potential forthcoming winter get the business when the good times return.
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