Garuda says dispute with technicians won't affect flights<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia assured passengers on
\nThursday that services would continue normally despite the
\nongoing dispute with some technicians.<\/p>\n
Garuda spokesman Pujobroto said that it had 2,361 fully
\nlicensed technicians to ensure normal flights.<\/p>\n
He was responding to earlier press reports quoting Garuda
\ntechnical director Richard Budihadianto as saying on Wednesday
\nthat starting July 31, 537 Garuda technicians would not be
\nallowed to enter the compound of PT Garuda Maintenance Facility
\nAero Asia (GMFAA). GMFAA is a Garuda subsidiary handling aircraft
\nmaintenance.<\/p>\n
The technicians, grouped under the Aircraft Technicians
\nAssociation (ITPU), had protested Garuda's decision to transfer
\nthe airline's technicians to GMFAA, a relatively new subsidiary
\nset up in August 2002 as part of a restructuring plan to allow
\nthe ailing Garuda to focus on its core business, flight service.<\/p>\n
They had even threatened to strike in May during a long
\nweekend holiday when Garuda was busy with a high number of
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
Garuda has shrugged off the protest as a greater number of
\ntechnicians were ready to join GMFAA.<\/p>\n
Garuda has set a July 31 deadline for the technicians to fill
\nin their transfer forms and submit them to GMFAA.<\/p>\n
The protesting technicians said they had declined to join
\nGMFAA, not because they were afraid of salary cuts or a possible
\nlayoff in the future, but because they feel more proud working
\nfor Garuda.<\/p>\n
The protesters had also said that GMFAA had no clear
\nobjectives and plans.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pujobroto said that Garuda had never issued a
\npolicy banning them from entering the GMFAA compound.<\/p>\n
He said that as of 8 a.m. Thursday, only 389 technicians had
\nnot yet submitted their transfer forms.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, some of the protesting technicians had
\ntold the press that Garuda management had embezzled some Rp 15
\nbillion (US$1.7 million) each month, and had asked the Supreme
\nAudit Agency (BPK) to conduct an audit. But no progress has been
\nreported since.<\/p>\n
Garuda has been forced to take tough restructuring measures to
\nhelp the financially weak airline survive the current industry
\ntroubles.<\/p>\n
Garuda, which owes around $89.4 million to foreign creditors,
\nearlier this week reported that net profit in the first quarter
\nof this year was only Rp 32.77 billion, way below the initial
\ntarget of Rp 116.81 billion.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/garuda-says-dispute-with-technicians-wont-affect-flights-1447893297",
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