Labor unions od state firms support privatization<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Federation of State-Owned Enterprise Labor Unions (FSP-
\nBUMN) said it would support the government's crucial
\nprivatization program, as long as it was carried out in a
\ntransparent way.<\/p>\n
Some 15 representatives of FSP-BUMN met on Tuesday with State
\nMinister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi at the latter's
\noffice.<\/p>\n
The federation groups labor unions from 120 state-owned
\nenterprises (SOEs). Participants in the meeting included union
\nofficials from state-owned cement maker PT Semen Gresik and
\ninternational telecommunications firm PT Indosat.<\/p>\n
Government plans to privatize the two above firms had
\npreviously been opposed by their respective labor unions.<\/p>\n
The unions also demanded a role in the drafting of the
\nprivatization bill.<\/p>\n
\"I'm satisfied with the meeting. Minister Laksamana promised
\nto be transparent in the privatization program and include us in
\nformulating the privatization law,\" head of FSP-BUMN Bambang S.
\nSyukur told a media conference.<\/p>\n
Members of FSP-BUMN staged an antiprivatization protest in
\nmid-April, as they feared the privatization program would only
\ninflict losses on the country, including massive layoffs.<\/p>\n
\"The government will continue the privatization program. What
\nthey (workers unions) want is transparency in the process,\" said
\nFerdinand Nainggolan, a deputy at the Office of the State
\nMinister of State Enterprises.<\/p>\n
The government has planned to privatize some SOEs this year in
\na bid to raise around Rp 6.5 trillion in cash to help reduce the
\n2002 state budget deficit, estimated at around 2.5 percent of
\ngross domestic product.<\/p>\n
But so far, proceeds from the privatization program have
\nyielded nothing.<\/p>\n
The government failed to meet the 2000 and 2001 privatization
\ntargets for a variety of reasons, including protests from local
\npoliticians and workers, who feared that privatization could lead
\nto mass layoffs.<\/p>\n
One prominent case occurred when the government had to abandon
\nlate last year a plan to sell a controlling stake in Semen Gresik
\nto Mexico's Cemex SA de CV, the world's third-largest cement
\nmaker, partly due to protests from Gresik's fully-owned
\nsubsidiaries in West Sumatra and South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
But Laksamana is determined to complete the sale of Semen
\nGresik this year.<\/p>\n
He has ordered the Semen Gresik president to reshuffle the top
\nmanagement of the West Sumatra-based PT Semen Padang and South
\nSulawesi-based PT Semen Tonasa.<\/p>\n
The government is also planning to sell shares in publicly-
\nlisted Indosat this year. It expects to sell a 15 percent stake
\nsometime in June, and another 30 percent in October.<\/p>\n
Indosat is currently in negotiation with Germany's Deutsche
\nTelekom to acquire the latter's 25 percent stake in the country's
\nsecond-largest cellular operator, PT Satelindo. The acquisition
\nmove is expected to increase the value of Indosat prior to its
\nsecond-round privatization.<\/p>\n
The recent success in the sale of the government's 51 percent
\nstake in Bank Central Asia, the country's largest retail bank,
\nshould serve as a catalyst for the privatization program.<\/p>\n
There has been suspicion, however, that opposition to the
\nprivatization program was being orchestrated by SOE top
\nmanagement and politicians, who had been treating the SOEs as
\ncash cows.<\/p>\n
Laksamana has repeatedly said that in addition to the cash
\nbenefit to the state budget, the privatization program would help
\nboost transparency at SOEs and eradicate corruption.<\/p>\n
The entry of foreign investors, will, for example, improve
\ncorporate governance within the SOEs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/labor-unions-od-state-firms-support-privatization-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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