More than a thousand former Hotel Indonesia workers joined a rally Friday urging the hotel management, PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (HIN), to pay their pensions and labor insurance that have yet to be been paid by the company.

"We have been waiting for five years, since we were fired in 2004. But the company has not given us any payment for pensions and Jamsostek (labor insurance)," said Joko Sujono, head of HI former workers’ union (HIMKHI).

He said PT HIN should have paid Rp 2.8 billion (US$266,000) in Jamsostek payments to 1,115 former workers.

"The company has promised to pay us in June. We'll just see. We will keep fighting for our rights" he added. Joko was speaking during a May Day rally on Friday at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, known as Bundaran HI. Thousands of Hotel Indonesia workers were fired in 2004 following the privatization of the hotel and its closure for renovation.

The workers slammed the plan, saying the government should not have sold the land to the private sector as it was one of the capital's historical buildings. (Triwik Kurniasari - The Jakarta Post).

What Does Social Security Mean?
A United States federal program of social insurance and benefits developed in 1935. The Social Security program's benefits include retirement income, disability income, Medicare and Medicaid, and death and survivorship benefits. Social Security is one of the largest government programs in the world, paying out hundreds of billions of dollars per year.

Based on the year someone was born, retirement benefits may begin as early as age 62 and as late as age 67. The amount of income received is based on the average wages earned over the worker's lifetime, with a maximum calculable amount of $102,000 as of 2008. Spouses are also eligible to receive Social Security benefits, even if they have limited or non-existent work

Explaination for Social Security
The original program was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal plan to lift the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Today, the program is funded through payroll taxes collected by employees and companies; monies are placed into the Social Security Trust Fund and payments are managed by the government along with the Federal Reserve Board.

Social Security has faced serious solvency issues for many decades; today's payments are made from current payroll contributions by workers who may not have money available for them when they retire. Social security reform, whether through legislation, tax law changes, or privatization, has been a major political issue that draws strong opinions from different demographic segments.

Social Security faces the real threat of becoming insolvent because of factors such as longer life expectancies, a large baby boomer population currently entering retirement age, and inflation.

What Does Pension Plan Mean?
A type of retirement plan, usually tax exempt, wherein an employer makes contributions toward a pool of funds set aside for an employee's future benefit. The pool of funds is then invested on the employee's behalf, allowing the employee to receive benefits upon retirement.

Investopedia explains Pension Plan
In many ways, a pension plan is a method in which an employee transfers part of his or her current income stream toward retirement income. There are two main types of pension plans: defined-benefit plans and defined-contribution plans.

In a defined-benefit plan, the employer guarantees that the employee will receive a definite amount of benefit upon retirement, regardless of the performance of the underlying investment pool.

In a defined-contribution plan the employer makes predefined contributions for the employee, but the final amount of benefit received by the employee depends on the investment's performance.

Tugas yang cukup berat kali ini adalah mempersiapkan dan sekaligus melakukan program pendanaan. Pendanaan yang dimaksud adalah pendanaan yang diperuntukkan sebagai persiapan pembiayaan program pensiun karyawan di perusahaan.

Sejak tahun 2004 perusahaan telah mengakui beban/kewajiban manfaat karyawan di laporan keuangannya, sesuai PSAK-24 (revisi) tentang Imbalan Paska Kerja. Namun dalam Rapat Umum Pemegang Saham (RUPS) Tahunan Laporan Keuangan Tahun 2008, Dewan Komisaris memberikan catatan kepada Direksi agar tahun ini segera dilakukan pendanaan untuk program pensiun karyawan, selain mengingat telah dilakukan pengakuan dalam laporan keuangan perusahaan, juga karena beban yang akan semakin berat dari tahun ke tahun akibat kewajiban manfaat karyawan terutama pada pembiayaan program pensiun bagi karyawan yang mencapai usia pensiun normal yang jatuh tempo pada tahun 2010 dan 2011 nanti.

Memperhatikan perhitungan aktuaria dalam laporan keuangan tahun 2008, cukup berat beban kewajiban manfaat karyawan terhitung tanggal 31 Desember 2008. Tahun 2010 dan 2011 merupakan tahun di mana cukup banyak karyawan yang jatuh tempo usia pensiun normal (55 tahun) secara bersamaan dan juga karyawan-karyawan yang memiliki masa kerja yang cukup lama dengan gaji yang cukup tinggi, sehingga nilai pensiun sekaligus yang harus dibayarkan peruasahaan kepada mereka cukup besar pula.

Tahun 2009 diharapkan menjadi awal dalam rangka perusahaan melakukan program pendanaan program pensiun sesuai dengan kemampuan keuangan perusahaan. Betapapun sulit masalah ini, tetap perlu mendapatkan perhatian semua pihak dari mulai Direksi sampai dengan unsur pimpinan terkait termasuk para wakil karyawan yang tergabung dalam Dewan Karyawan, sehingga program pendanaan ini dapat mencapai tujuan utamanya adalah membantu perusahaan dalam memenuhi kewajiban pembayaran imbalan paska kerja, khususnya program pensiun karyawan....amin. (berlanjut).