Employees tell Yunus to resign

JAKARTA (JP): Around 1,000 Ministry of Information employees staged a demonstration yesterday to protest against stricter working hours imposed by Minister Muhammad Yunus.

Protesters loudly took exception to the imposition of disciplinary measures against employees who arrive at work after 8:15 a.m. and claimed their superiors were not censured for similar late arrival.

The ministry's working hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Antara reported that employees were also disappointed by a recent statement made by Yunus at the House of Representatives in which he said the ministry could be disbanded in the future.

"Instead of making such statements the minister should try to create a better atmosphere at the ministry and make efforts to improve the social welfare of employees," a protester was quoted as saying.

Yunus and his adjutant, who arrived at the ministry at around 8:15 a.m., was prevented by demonstrators from gaining entry to the building.

After some pushing and shoving, he eventually managed to enter.

The demonstrators ignored police calls to disperse and refused Yunus' offer of talks. They dispersed peacefully at 1:30 p.m.

Yunus later said the demonstration had been caused by a misunderstanding and a lack of coordination among his subordinates in the ministry.

"They protested because they were unhappy with the disciplinary measures, which were not properly implemented," Yunus said after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at the Bina Graha presidential office.

When asked by journalists, he agreed that disciplinary measures should be followed by welfare improvements. However he pointed out that low salaries were a problem faced by all civil servants. (rms/prb)