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Employees who were recently laid off by several companies without prior discussion must be taken back, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Muhaimin Iskandar said on Tuesday.

Muhaimin called on management and workers at the companies in question to be more cooperative with each other. “I call for companies to hold meetings with their employees first to look for a solution,” he said.

He said every company must have a workers’ union as a bridge of communication.

Muhaiman said companies that laid off employees included private TV station Indosiar, Papandayan Hotel in Bandung, West Java, the Jakarta International Container Terminal, and Berita Kota, a Jakarta-based daily newspaper.

However, Muhaimin said, the cancellation could be applied only to companies still in process of dismissing workers, such as Indosiar.

He urged companies to talk with the workers’ unions before dismissals.

“The ministry will keep facilitating the discussions,” Muhaimin said.

As for companies that have dismissed employees and paid severance, he said, the ministry would investigate whether they had followed legal procedures.

He also called for the establishment of a mutual work agreement in every company, made by the workers’ union and the board of management.

Muhaimin said the dismissals were not related to the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), but purely for internal reasons.

Therefore, it is important for workers and companies to unite and face the “global challenge the ACFTA will bring.”

In January, Berita Kota laid off more than 140 employees after the newspaper was acquired by media giant PT Kompas Gramedia, while Indosiar is in process of dismissing 20 employees.

Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said no company institutes a mass layoff without deep consideration, but companies must do what they can to prevent bankruptcy.

He added that if the government calls for companies to stop dismissing employees, it must also ensure that there are enough jobs for everyone.

“Make sure that our economy is competitive enough that companies do not have to fire people,” he said.